


Divergence

by the_protector_of_light



Series: The Kairi Timeline [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, Kairi as Protagonist, Protagonist Kairi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2020-04-23 03:01:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 39,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19142221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_protector_of_light/pseuds/the_protector_of_light
Summary: The long awaited second part of the Kairi as Protagonist Series, sequel to 'Chains of Light' from several years ago.After the worlds are saved from Ansem SoD, Kairi and Riku were once again separated from Sora, who was sent back to the Destiny Islands while his friends are out saving the worlds from a new threat-Organization XIII. Kairi and Riku are not likely to believe Solace's word that Sora went home and put it upon themselves to search for him.Solace, the man who set this timeline in motion rescues Namine from Castle Oblivion and sets a task upon her-stop Xion from fighting Kairi, as she, Roxas, and herself are all anomalies in this timeline.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! It’s been a couple of years, but I decided it was time to continue my Kairi as protagonist storyline. My writing style has likely changed significantly in the time that has passed, but hopefully you will still find it enjoyable.  
> Without further ado, the sequel to “Chains of Light”, “Divergence”. FYI, several chapters have been completed, but I have no particular schedule to continue it, as I'm working on multiple projects as the whim attacks me.

Chapter 1

(Naminé)

Naminé woke up. It was the first time she ever had but she knew so many things. She held the memories for someone else… and… something was different.

Naminé knew many things about herself. She was a Nobody. She had power over the memories of someone named… was it Sora? Or was it Kairi? It was all so blurry. Something was wrong.

She knew one other thing: she wasn’t alone here.

She looked around the white room. She knew this place was called Castle Oblivion. It was part of the knowledge she had been born with: Castle Oblivion, Sora, Kairi, Nobodies, her powers… She knew it all. But she also knew she wasn’t alone, yet she didn’t see anyone at all.

“Hello?” she said softly, testing out her new voice. “I know someone’s here,” she said a bit louder.

“Perceptive I see,” a man said from behind her. She whipped around to see them. It was someone she recognized from the memories of others. Long blonde hair, green eyes, tanned skin, a glowing aura. Solace. “I should have expected nothing less.”

“You’re… you’re not supposed to be here,” she said. The memories she held; they didn’t line up.

“On the contrary; _you’re_ the one who’s not supposed to exist.” Solace took a step forward. Naminé took a step back. Solace frowned. “You need not fear me. I mean you no harm.”

“But you’re… What have you done?”

“Of course, you’d know. That’s why I’ve come here.” Solace turned to the left and walked a bit away. “You see, you are a remnant, something that should have gone away when I changed the timeline. Instead, you remained, along with two others.”

“Changed the timeline?”

“Yes. In a future, I was killed, but I escaped and went to the past. I changed something irreversibly and created this timeline in conjunction with the main one. You are a remnant from that old timeline that proves it still exists somewhere, and with your power over memories, you hold those that you held in that timeline as well.”

“I’m a remnant? The memories… That’s why they’re wrong?” She paused and looked at Solace. “Tell me; if I’m a remnant of the timeline you got rid of, why don’t you want to hurt me?”

“That’s simple enough,” he said. “You’re useful, and you have done no harm. I don’t wish to harm anyone; I just want to survive.”

“But you meddled in the timeline! You’ve harmed many people!”

“Name one.”

“Well… Sora! He didn’t get a Keyblade!”

“And that harms him how?” Solace shook his head. “On the contrary. That keeps him safe from dangers yet to come.”

“Well, what about—”

“Riku never fused with Ansem, and Sora was completely separated. Sora, Donald, and Goofy had no reason to come here, so they didn’t. As such, the traitors to the Organization don’t have any ammunition to follow through with their plans to overthrow Xemnas. That is, as soon as I get you out of here.” Solace smiled. “I will help you escape this place before you are found. You will be free.”

“You’d get me out of here?” she asked. “But why?”

“You’re innocent. Your heart is as full of light as Kairi’s.”

“Nobodies don’t have hearts.”

“Not yet.” Solace paced the other direction. “Nobodies are capable of growing their own hearts over time. The process will be more difficult since you are a separate person from Kairi, but it has already begun.”

Naminé looked down at her hands. “Is that true?”

“Yes. You didn’t know back then, and everyone wanted to convince you otherwise in the old timeline. But I won’t let any one of them hurt you.” Solace walked over to her and put a hand out. Naminé flinched. Solace frowned. “Ah, Naminé, why do you fear me?”

“I know what you’ve done,” she said.

“No. You truly don’t,” Solace disagreed. “And you never will.”

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Nothing,” Solace soothed. “I’m not going to harm you or anyone else in any way.”

“Then what—”

“Naminé, I promise you that I will cause no more harm than what I already have. You have my word as a higher power.”

Naminé looked up at him. His expression was genuine, but there was something in his eye, a glint of insanity. Could she really trust him? He held out his hand again. She took it.

“Now then. Let’s get you out of this place before Marluxia finds you.” A pillar of light formed behind him. She followed him through.

When they reached the other side, they stood in a town, glowing in the setting sun. Naminé knew this place; Twilight Town. Solace released her hand.

“What do you want from me in exchange for my freedom?” she asked.

“Nothing; though, I do have a few favors to ask, if you choose to do so.” Solace smiled.

“Favors?”

“There are… fragments of the old timeline remaining in conjunction to Sora. You know who he is, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Naminé said. “I know who he is.”

“Great,” Solace said. “Well, for some reason, the memories of him from the old timeline linger here, and they’re causing some discomfort for him and everyone who he ever met in the old timeline. I would ask that you use your powers to remove those irrelevant memories.”

“What?” Naminé asked. “If they remain, they must be supposed to be there.”

“On the contrary; they’re an anomaly and should be eliminated.” Solace said. “I will not force you to do anything. However, there is something of upmost importance, something that you would not be able to live with yourself if you did not change it.”

“Huh?”

“Do you know of Roxas and Xion?”

“I…” Naminé took a moment to think.

“You should. They are connected to Sora and Kairi.”

Naminé nodded. “Right. They’re with the Organization.”

“Correct.” Solace shook his head. “They too are not supposed to exist within this timeline; yet they do. Now, I won’t ask you to erase them. All I ask is that you get them away from the Organization before Kairi can find them.”

“But… Why?”

“If they clash, I do not know what will happen to this timeline. In this timeline, Xion is Kairi’s memories. They may meet; but if one destroys the other, they will both be erased.” Solace shook his head. “Now, you wouldn’t want that, even if it meant helping me, would you?”

Namine’s eyes widened. “No!” Her mind raced. “Would that really happen?”

“It would, I’m afraid,” Solace said. “I have seen the probabilities, and it would be imminent. But, you too are an anomaly in the worlds. I believe that you and you alone can change this future.”

“I… I can’t let that happen,” Naminé said, looking down.

“There’s a good girl,” Solace said. “Now then, I implore you; if you do nothing else, stop Xion and Kairi from fighting. I’ll leave what you do with those memory fragments from the other timeline up to you.”

“Solace…” Naminé closed her eyes. “Why are you doing this?”

“I want to survive,” Solace said. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” He took a step back. “Now then, dear Naminé; stay safe.”

“Thank you, Solace,” she said. “I don’t know why you’re helping me, but—”

“Please help everyone in return,” Solace said.

“I… I will.” Naminé nodded.

Solace smiled. “Until later.” In a burst of light, wings sprouted from his back and he ascended beyond her sight.

Naminé shook her head. For someone who had done such vile things, he didn’t seem like a truly bad person. She didn’t know why he was doing this, but she knew he had helped her; helping everyone was the least she could do.

Now she needed to get a sketch pad and pencils. She had work to do.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

(Kairi)

 Kairi looked around as they disembarked the gummi ship. They had stepped out onto the least obtrusive place possible, on top of a tall building. The ledge was wide enough to stand on without fearing losing balance and teetering off the edge, and there was enough space for her, Riku, Donald, and Goofy to settle in to survey the scene.

The sun was setting in the distance, but there was an air that night would not be coming. Kairi couldn’t explain the feeling. She looked out at the sea and the ground below. Everything was paved in golden brown brick. Kairi looked back at the others. They were looking around too.

“Twilight Town, huh?” Riku said.

Kairi nodded. “Right. Why don’t we go ahead and look around?”

“Is there a way down from here?” Goofy asked.

“Of course, there is,” Donald grumbled. “We just have to find it.”

“Hmm…” Kairi headed around the side of the building. The first thing she noticed was that it was a clock tower, the giant face announcing a time that did not match the scenery. The next thing she noticed was a man with long, spiked, red hair wearing a black cloak and eating a popsicle. He stared off into the distance, and he looked rather lonely.

Kairi retracted herself and nearly backed into Riku. “What’s wrong?” Riku asked.

“There’s a man over there,” Kairi said. “He’ll probably ask what we’re doing up here.”

“Well, we can just ask him what he’s doing up here,” Goofy said.

“We have to find a way down,” Donald said.

Kairi crossed her arms. “Can’t we go around the other side?”

“Oh great, is it those kids again?” the man asked from around the corner.

“Maybe he can tell us about the town,” Riku suggested.

Kairi tilted her head before nodded. “All right. Let’s go talk to him.”

She rounded the corner. “Excuse me,” she said.

“Huh? You’re not the usual kids,” the man said. He studied her.

“Um… No,” Kairi said. “Anyway, are you from around here?”

“Geez, I shouldn’t be talking to people,” the man muttered. He tilted his head. “Are you?”

Kairi rubbed the back of her head. “Well…”

The man looked over her shoulder and Riku, Donald, and Goofy. “Where are you guys from?” he asked. “It’s odd for random people to arrive in Twilight Town. Was your world destroyed?”

“Well—”

“That doesn’t matter,” Riku said. “I’m Riku, and this is Kairi, Donald, and Goofy.”

“The name’s Axel. Got it memorized?” Axel said.

“Right. It’s memorized,” Kairi said.

Axel sighed. “Well, I’d better go,” he said. “Boss has a new job for me.”

“Oh?”

“The way down from the tower’s just over there,” Axel said. He waved. “Take care.” He turned and rounded the corner.

Kairi glanced back at the others for a moment. “There was something off about that guy…” Kairi noted.

“What do you mean?” Goofy asked. “He seemed nice.”

“I know… I can’t quite put a finger on it…” Kairi shook her head. “Oh well. Let’s go look around!”

They headed around the corner and headed for the staircase. It led down into a train station. Kairi glanced at the train tracks but didn’t take much note of them. It was clear that this place was far different than any world they had been to so far.

“So,” Riku began, “Solace told us to come here, but he didn’t say why. He also said that Sora went back home. If that’s the case, why are we bothering looking around here?”

“Do you really believe a word that Solace says?” Kairi asked. “He’s as bad as Maleficent!”

“True…”

Donald cleared his throat. “You know, he might not have been lying,” Donald said.

“Huh?”

“He seems to have some idea of what’s going on around here, while we don’t,” Donald continued. “He told us that he changed something in the timeline; what if he wasn’t lying about that, and what if he wasn’t lying about Sora?”

Goofy shook his head. “I don’t know, Donald… I don’t think he’s the kind of person you should trust. If he did change the timeline, he’s bad news for sure.”

“I wasn’t saying we should trust him!” Donald protested.

“Then what were you saying?” Riku asked.

Kairi nodded. “I think I get it,” she said. “He’s saying that even though we can’t trust him, he might not be lying; we don’t know his motives, and I don’t think we could assume that he’s trying to help us… But just because someone is a bad guy doesn’t mean that they will always lie.”

“So what? Shouldn’t we be trying to find our islands then?” Riku asked.

“We have to find the king,” Donald said. “Last we knew, he was behind the door to darkness. We have to get him out.”

Kairi paused. “If Solace was telling the truth, then Sora’s safe. And, if he wasn’t, then we don’t know where he is.”

“You’re not saying that we shouldn’t bother looking for Sora, are you?” Riku asked in disbelief.

“Of course not,” Kairi said. “We need to locate Sora, regardless of where he is. But… It’s like when I was looking for you guys before. I don’t know where to looks, so I have to look everywhere.”

“She’s right,” Goofy said. “So, let’s take a look around.”

Riku looked skeptical but nodded. “Right.”

“We’ll find them both,” Donald said.

Kairi nodded and led the way through the train station. People were scattered throughout, but the station wasn’t as packed as one might have expected. It must not be time for any trains to be arriving or departing. Kairi was sure that it would be far busier around those times of day, or at least, it would be if there weren’t many people missing due to heartless. She had no idea if this world had been returned to its normal state upon the destruction of Ansem or if it had been left untouched in the first place.

And had the worlds really gone back to normal when Ansem was destroyed and the door to darkness closed, as Solace had said? Or was it a lie that Solace had created to give them a false sense of security? Either way, Kairi knew that they must find out what was going on, though she had no idea how to do so. The first step was looking around this world.

Outside the train station was a wide-open area that overlooked a distant sea. Kairi looked around. It was surprisingly empty barring three teens around her and Riku’s age. They were running toward them, seeming to be going to the train station. They stopped when they spotted the group.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you guys around here,” a blond boy said.

“You can’t just say that to people, Hayner,” the girl said. She had long brown hair and wore an orange tank-top and some khaki capris.

“Still, he’s right,” the larger brown-haired boy said. “You look lost.”

“Well…” Riku began.

“Order!” Donald said in a harsh whisper.

Kairi shook her head. “Say, have you run into someone named Sora?” she asked. “He has brown spiky hair.”

“Hmm? No, sorry,” the girl said. She smiled. “I’m Olette, and this is Hayner and Pence.”

“I’m Kairi. This is Riku, Donald, and Goofy. Nice to meet you!”

Olette paused. “You said you’re looking for Sora; are you looking for anyone else?” she asked.

“Well, there’s someone else.” She looked at Donald and Goofy.

“His name’s Mickey,” Goofy said. “He looks a lot like me and Donald.”

“Nope,” Hayner said. “Didn’t know if you might know what’s been going on around here. There have been some strange people about; not to mention the monsters.”

“Strange people?” Riku asked.

“I don’t think they know they’ve been noticed,” Pence said. “They wear black cloaks and sneak around. And where they go, these silver monsters follow them.”

“Silver monsters?” Kairi pondered. That didn’t sound like heartless.

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Hayner said with a grin. “Just keep your eyes open. There’s them, the silver monsters, and the shadowy things lately. Things used to be peaceful around here, but lately things have been pretty busy.”

Shadowy monsters did sound like heartless. Kairi was disappointed. She had hoped to hear that this world was safe. Things seemed so peaceful so far, she had hoped that what met the eye was the truth.

Kairi turned to look at the others. “Well, let’s keep looking around.”

“That’s a good idea,” Olette said. “Twilight Town is pretty big. Just because we haven’t seen them doesn’t mean that no one else has.”

“Thanks again,” Riku said.

Kairi led the way out of the plaza, watching the teens head past them and up into the train station. Kairi sighed as she watched them go. It made her miss the days before the islands were destroyed when she, Riku, and Sora could all hang out and goof off. Those days would return eventually… Right?

“Say Kairi,” Riku said. “That Axel guy was wearing a black cloak.”

“You’re right,” Donald said. “I wonder if he’s one of the strange people.”

Goofy put his hand to his chin. “He seemed nice enough, but maybe Kairi was right that there was something off about him.”

Kairi shrugged. “Who knows? If we run into him or anyone else wearing a black cloak, we’ll keep an eye on them.”

Donald paused. “I wonder if Master Yen Sid knows anything,” he said.

“Who’s Master Yen Sid?” Kairi asked.

“He was the king’s teacher,” Goofy said. “He knows all sorts of things.”

“Maybe after we’re done here we should go ask him what’s going on,” Donald said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Kairi said with a shrug. “In the meantime, let’s take a look around.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

(Kairi)

“Hmm… There hasn’t been anything useful around here at all,” Kairi said. They had searched every nook and cranny of this world, talked to as many people as they could while maintaining a discrete presence. There were no signs of Sora or the king, nor were there signs of strange people in black coats.

“Should we move on?” Riku asked. “I’m sure we haven’t searched everywhere, but…”

“We’ve searched enough,” Donald said.

Kairi paused. “You’re probably right…” she said. She sighed. “Let’s head back to the ship.”

It was a long journey back to the ship from where they stood. They had even found a mansion which they had explored that came up with nothing of use. Now they stood outside the gate.

“So, how are we going to find where Master Yen Sid is?” Goofy asked. “We know it’s the Mysterious Tower, but how are we going to know which way to go?”

“Who knows?” Donald said. “We’ll find it, though.”

“Haven’t you been there before?” Kairi asked.

“Well, yes, but it’s been an awful long time,” Goofy said, “and I’ve never been here to know the way.”

“Oh.” Kairi looked down.

“But don’t worry: I’m sure we’ll find it,” Donald said, walking over with a concerned expression.

Riku crossed his arms. “Solace dropped us off here with no clue where we needed to go next or where we are. We’re just lucky he had the courtesy to take us to our ship in the first place.”

“Well, we can’t expect him to help us; after all, he’s the one who caused all these problems.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Kairi said. “I don’t think he’s the one who brought the heartless around, and he didn’t seem to have ties with Maleficent or Ansem. Still, I would be surprised if he did something to aid us.”

“But what about this Xehanort that he spoke of?” Riku said. “The name seems so familiar.”

Kairi shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe that’s something to ask Master Yen Sid.”

“The name does ring a bell,” Goofy said. “I wonder if I’ve heard it before.”

“I don’t remember anything about it,” Donald said. “It’s probably more of Solace’s doing.”

Kairi was distracted. “There’s something about this town,” she said. “It’s not that it reminds me of home, it’s something else.”

“Huh?” Riku said.

“It feels warm, and calming… Like it belongs to a part of me.” Kairi closed her eyes for a moment. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I’m sure it’s just the sunset,” Donald said. “It makes it feel so peaceful here.”

Riku nodded. “It’s very pleasant. Almost makes you hate to leave.”

“We have to,” Kairi said. She opened her eyes. “Let’s go.”

She led the way through town and toward their ship, waiting for what would come next.

 

They arrived at their ship and pulled further into the sky. Kairi looked around. “There’s nothing near enough to see,” she said.

Riku looked too. “She’s right.”

“Well, we have been there before; maybe we can follow our hearts?” Goofy suggested.

Donald scoffed. “Aw foowie, that’s not going to work.”

“What other ideas do you have?” Kairi snapped.

“Come on you guys, there’s no reason to fight,” Goofy said.

Riku shook his head. “Kairi’s right, though; we don’t have any other ideas, do we Donald?”

Donald scowled into space for a moment. “Well, no.” He seemed to be thinking. “Chip, Dale; what does the map say?”

“It isn’t matching up with anything we’ve seen before, Donald,” Chip said.

“Yeah, everything in different places,” Dale added.

“Wack? Different places?” Donald asked.

“Yet another thing to ask Master Yen Sid about,” Kairi said. “But first we have to find him.” She moved toward the pilot’s seat. “Which way do you think, Goofy?”

“Get away from that seat!” Donald said. “You can’t drive!”

“I could if I wanted to!”

“Stop it, guys; we need to get moving,” Riku said.

Goofy put his hand to his chin. “Well… How about this way?” he said, pointing. “There seems to be a path, and I don’t see any others.”

“Why didn’t you just say there was only one way?” Donald complained. He hopped into the driver’s seat. “That makes things a lot easier!”

Riku sighed and took a seat. Kairi followed suit.

She hated the way that Donald treated Goofy at times; it seemed that he thought him incapable of intelligent decision making, when in her time with them, Goofy was able to make far less emotional decisions when put under pressure. If she had to be stuck with one of them, she’d rather it be Goofy.

Donald put the ship into gear and the flight began.

 

“There it is!” Donald said, jumping up in his seat and pointing.

“Gawrsh, we found it!”

Kairi rushed to the window. There floated an ominous curved tower above a small swath of land. Lamplight shone out the tower’s windows out onto the surrounding trees and grassland. This world seemed to be the smallest she had run across.

“Well, let’s land,” Riku said. “The sooner we find out about what all is going on the better.”

Kairi nodded and opened the hatch to climb down.

But once the group reached the ground, it became evident that something was amiss. Heartless appeared as Heartless do, rising from the ground and beginning a swift approach. “Look out!” Kairi called as she summoned her Keyblade.

“Heartless?” Donald squawked. “But we closed the door!”

“It doesn’t matter how they’re here; we have to fight them,” Riku said. He summoned his Keyblade and rushed at the creatures.

The battle was short lived; they had all their experience from their previous travels to hold their own. Kairi looked around and didn’t see any more of the creatures. This was yet another thing to ask Yen Sid about.

She led the way toward the door of the tower. No more heartless appeared along the way, and there was no one else by the entrance. Kairi pushed open the door and entered.

A long staircase wound upward. “He’s up there?” Kairi asked.

“Uh-huh,” Goofy said. He furrowed his brow. “I hope he’s all right with all the Heartless around.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Donald said, but he looked wary.

“Didn’t you say he was the king’s teacher?” Kairi asked.

“Yeah, but he’s been retired for quite some time. I doubt he’s used to fighting his own battles anymore,” Goofy said.

“Fighting isn’t something you just forget how to do,” Riku said. “Donald’s right; I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Well, we’ll find out either way, won’t we?” Kairi said. She led the way up the stairs.

There was another door at the top. Kairi pushed it open and slowly walked it, followed quickly by the others.

A tall man with long grey hair and an impressive beard said there with his eyes closed. He opened them when he heard them enter. “Ah, yes. I’ve been expecting you.”

Donald and Goofy bowed, so Kairi and Riku followed suit. “Master Yen Sid,” Donald said.

Yen Sid waved his hands to tell them there was no reason to bow. They stood up straight.

“You must be Riku and Kairi,” he said. “The new Keyblade wielders.”

“That’s correct, sir,” Kairi said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Much is amiss these days, I’m afraid,” Yen Sid said. “Not only is there the danger caused by the Heartless and other forces, the very timeline has been meddled with.”

“Yes, we know that much,” Riku said. “A man named Solace did it.”

“Yes; I have seen it,” Yen Sid said. “That, however, is not the problem at hand. What has been done cannot and should not be undone. That would only cause further damage to the worlds.”

“So, how much do you know about Solace?” Kairi asked.

Yen Sid closed his eyes. “He was one tasked with maintaining the order of the worlds. I had only heard of such in legends; a high seraph, a sorter of hearts, controlling the order of light and darkness. Until he came here, I had no idea such a person truly existed.”

“He came here?” Donald asked in shock.

“He seemed quite fond of sharing information. He’s the one who told me that you would soon arrive. I had not yet been expecting you.”

Kairi blinked. “Why would he tell you that?”

“I am not sure. He told me that he had no further desire to participate in the events of the world. However, I would still advise caution if you were to encounter him. His power is incomprehensible.”

“What?”

“But that is not why you are here, is it?”

“No, sir,” Kairi said. “We have many other questions.”

“And I have much to tell you,” he said. “There is much happening in the worlds as of late.”

“How are the Heartless still around?” Riku asked. “We closed the door; shouldn’t they be gone?”

“Though closing the door was a good way to hinder the arrival of more Heartless, those that were already around have not been removed from the worlds; and as long as people have darkness in their hearts, Heartless will be there to feed on the light.”

“Oh,” Donald said, looking down.

“But there are other dangers. Allow me to explain.” A hologram of a Shadow Heartless appeared before them. “When a person’s heart is stolen, a Heartless is created as the hollow shell of what is left behind.” Yen Sid waved his hand. “When the heart of an individual with a powerful heart is stolen…” An image of a sleek grey creature appeared; “…a Nobody is created from the remnants of their body.”

“A Nobody?” Kairi asked.

“Most of such are mindless entities much like the Heartless; however, there are some special individuals that will be a threat to you, the ones who lead the lesser Nobodies.” He waved his hand again and an image of what appeared to be a human in a black coat appeared. “They are known as Organization XIII. They are a group of Nobodies who remember what it was like to be human, and as such, they use their minds and wills for a sinister purpose.”

“A black coat! That’s like Axel had!” Donald said.

“Oh? So, you have met a member?”

“He seemed normal enough.” Riku shook his head. “Master, what is this purpose?”

“They seek to gather hearts to create a power far beyond that of any other. They wish to form Kingdom Hearts; for what purpose, I cannot be sure. However, I know if is not one of good.”

“Wasn’t that what the door was called?” Goofy asked, scratching his chin.

“Indeed; however, this Kingdom Hearts is different.” Yen Sid waved his hand and the hologram disappeared.

“So, this Organization is trying to gather hearts; there’s no way that can be good,” Kairi said. “So… Do we need to stop them?”

“That would be the ultimate goal,” Yen Sid said. “Have you seen the king yet?”

“We saw him behind the door, but we didn’t get a chance to talk to him,” Donald said.

“He has been quite busy as of late.” Yen Sid shook his head. “Rest assured, he will safely return to the Realm of Light in due time.”

“That’s a relief,” Goofy said. “We were awful worried.”

“Do you have any other questions?”

Kairi nodded. “Is what Solace said true? Were the worlds reformed and inhabitants returned?”

Yen Sid nodded. “Indeed.”

“So, that means Sora’s probably safe,” Kairi said. She was relieved. Though she wanted to find him, she was glad he was out of harm’s way.

“Sora?” Yen Sid asked. “That name sounds familiar.”

“It does to everyone, Master,” Donald said. “It is Solace’s doing.”

“I see…” Yen Sid stroked his beard. “I would not guarantee his safety; if my knowledge of him holds true, he is prone to recklessness.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Sora,” Riku agreed. “Okay. So that’s settled; what next?”

“I would see to it that you were provided with vestments to protect you from the darkness,” he said. “If you go to the other room, they will be provided. Donald and Goofy’s clothing already provides such protection.”

“Clothes to protect against darkness?” Kairi questioned. How could clothing do such a thing?

“Indeed,” Yen Sid said. He gestured toward a door.

Kairi looked at the others. “Well… Okay.” She headed toward the door, followed by Riku.

When they reached the room, three older women with gossamer wings clothed individually in red, green, and blue were bickering in the corner. They looked over when they heard the door. “Yes? Who are you?” the one clothed in green asked.

“I’m Kairi, and this is Riku,” she said.

“Oh! The Keyblade wielders,” the one clad in red said. “I’m Flora.”

“I’m Fauna,” the one wearing green said.

“And I’m Merryweather,” said the remaining.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kairi said.

“Likewise,” Riku agreed. “So, Master Yen Sid said you could give us clothes to protect us from the darkness?”

“Of course,” Flora said. “Besides, looking at you, you both seem to be outgrowing your current clothing.”

“Huh?” Kairi looked down at herself. Indeed, her shirt showed a larger gap in her midriff and her skort more of her leg. Looking over at Riku, his shirt was tighter on his muscles than it had been before their journey began. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t noticed before.

“Well, let’s begin,” Fauna said. “What kind of outfits are you looking for?”

“Oh? Um… Something practical; I like the outfit I have now,” Kairi said.

“Oh my, really?” Merryweather said.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s just so… childish.”

Kairi crossed her arms. “No it’s not… is it, Riku?”

“I’m not getting into this,” Riku said, holding his hands in front of him and shaking his head.

“You do think it is!” Kairi frowned. “I’ll have you know that the tank top is cool for the heat; the skort is cool but also conceals things that a skirt wouldn’t. These shoes are comfortable. And I just like the wrist bands.”

“So what I’m hearing is that you want something cool, easy to move in, and comfortable,” Flora said. “With a touch of… eclectic fashion.”

“Fine,” Kairi huffed. “But you’ve got to get rid of Riku’s puffy pants.”

“What’s wrong with them?” Riku protested.

“What isn’t?”

“They’re for fishing!”

“When do you fish?”

“Let’s agree that the pants change,” Fauna said.

Riku crossed his arms.

The fairies huddled together and seemed to be deliberating.

Kairi looked at Riku. “Do we really have time for them to design and sew outfits?” she whispered.

Riku shrugged. “I guess we have to wait.”

The fairies separated. Flora nodded “Now then. We’ll begin with Kairi.”

“Similar colors, correct, dear?” Merryweather asked.

“Yes please.” Flora pulled out a wand and pointed it at her, and a flash of light flew from it at her. “Whoa, what are you doing?”

Riku glanced over. “Kairi, look!”

Kairi looked down at herself. Her outfit had changed.

“Hmm… I don’t like it,” Flora said.

“It doesn’t matter what you think. Have her look at it!” Fauna said.

“There’s a mirror over here, dear,” Merryweather said.

Kairi walked over to the mirror to look. Her outfit wasn’t too different in color scheme, but it was very differently structured. Her shirt was now an open-shoulder tank top or tee shirt hybrid, with a white torso and lavender sleeves. She now was wearing darker violet wrap skirt that hit mid-thigh over black shorts that were slightly longer. A black fabric belt, white gloves, and white sneakers completed the look. She still wore her necklace, and for the first time she realized how much her hair had grown.

“It’s… not bad,” Kairi admitted. “Though, next time I’d really like to pick out my own clothing.”

“Not just any clothing will protect you from the darkness, dear,” Flora said. “For now, this will have to do.”

“You look nice, Kairi,” Riku said.

“Let’s see what they can do with you!” she teased.

With some argument between the fairies, Riku ended up wearing long light-wash jeans and a black tank top overlaid with a sleeveless white vest with a zipper.

Riku looked in the mirror. “It’s… nice,” he said. “Not what I would’ve chosen, but nice.”

“Good, good!” Flora said.

“This was much quicker than I expected,” Kairi said.

“But of course. We couldn’t hold you up for too long.”

“Now, you two should be moving along!” Fauna said.

“Best of luck to you,” Merryweather said.

“Thank you,” Kairi said. Riku agreed.

The two headed back out into the main room. “You look nice!” Goofy told them.

“And it’s good that you will be more protected from the darkness,” Donald added.

Kairi turned to Yen Sid. “Thank you, Master,” she said with a bow. “We should be going.”

“But where?” Donald asked.

Yen Sid closed his eyes. “You will need to go to many worlds. The lanes between are different now, but they are still not safe from Heartless, and neither are the worlds. You should also look for members of the Organization, and as you do so, ensure the worlds are safe.”

“Right,” Kairi said. “So, wherever we run across first?”

Yen Sid nodded. “Now, go; and feel free to search for your friend and the King; though I do not know their whereabouts, I know the King is safe.”

“At least there’s that,” Riku said.

Kairi paused in heading toward the door. “One more thing, Master: who is Xehanort?”

“Xehanort?” Yen Sid sat up straighter. “I haven’t heard that name in years.”

“Solace mention him; said something along the lines of him being the true threat.”

“His whereabouts have been unknown for a decade now,” Yen Sid said, stroking his beard. “The true threat should be Organization XIII… Why would Solace mention Xehanort?”

“But he was dangerous, Master?” Riku asked.

“Indeed. He nearly brought ruin upon the worlds and twisted the fates of three Keyblade wielders irreparably.” Yen Sid shook his head. “If he were to be involved… I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Master?” Donald said. “Is he the one from… It’s so hazy…”

“From back when the King was still in training?” Goofy finished.

Yen Sid nodded solemnly. “Be cautious as you proceed. There may be a threat beyond what I know. If you find Mickey, you must warn him of Solace and what he told you.”

“Of course, Master,” Donald said.

Kairi looked between everyone. The tension in the room had grown so much at the mention of a name. Who was this Xehanort and what was he capable of?

“If you have no other questions, you should go,” Yen Sid said.

“Right… Thank you, Master.” The others thanked him as well and they headed out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

(Naminé)

Naminé wandered the streets of Twilight Town. She had found a sketchbook and pencils easily enough, and though she didn’t have money, the shop owner had been kind enough to give her a set that they had been going to throw away anyway. She had been shocked but thankful. Perhaps there was more to the kindness of strangers than she remembered as time went on.

And she did remember the other timeline. As moments came to pass in this one, the memories of the old slipped into place too. It made her wonder: if she got rid of the memory fragments for everyone else, would it fix the problem for her as well? It was tempting, if that was the case. She wasn’t so sure it would be such a bad thing if it would help everyone.

Regardless, she needed to find somewhere safe to stay for a while and get to work. There were plenty of benches around town, so she would just need to find one and settle in. She was going to be very busy figuring out how to find Roxas and Xion and change their intent and get them away from the Organization.

Still, this was all so perplexing. She knew who they were, but she knew that Xion was no yet fully formed. She couldn’t do much about it right now. Now would be the best opportunity to do her other work should she decide to do it, but she was torn. On one hand, it would be horrible to take away someone’s memories. On the other, they weren’t really these people’s memories anymore. Was Solace right that they were a problem rather than neutral?

As she wandered through the streets, not paying attention to where she was going, she nearly ran into someone.

“Whoa!” the blond boy said. “Be careful!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Naminé apologized.

“No need to be,” he said.

The girl walked over to her. “Are you all right?”

Naminé nodded. “I’m fine. Just lost in thought.”

“Say…” the brown-haired boy said. “I haven’t seen you around here, either. Are you with the others?”

“Others?”

“Nope, must not be, then.” He shook his head. “I’m Pence. This is Hayner and Olette.”

“Oh? I’m Naminé. It’s nice to meet you.” Naminé smiled.

“Say, are you busy?” Olette asked.

“Oh, well… kind of. I have some time, though.”

“Hmm…” Olette tilted her head. “So, you aren’t looking for Kairi and the others; are you looking for someone at all?”

“No,” Naminé said. She paused. Kairi was here? She would need to be cautious. Naminé was Kairi’s nobody, or at least she was in the other timeline. If they were to meet, she might be absorbed, and she couldn’t let that happen until she was finished.

“If you aren’t busy, would you like to come with us for a bit? We’re going to get some ice cream and go back to our usual spot.”

“Usual spot?”

“Yeah, it’s where we usually hang out during the summer and after school when we want to get out of the heat.” Olette smiled and looked at the boys.

“I can’t see the harm,” Pence said.

Hayner frowned for a moment and seemed to be thinking. “Well, I guess it’d keep her away from Seifer. He’d flip if he saw someone out of place.”

Naminé hesitated. On one hand, she didn’t know if she should go with these people; could they be trusted? On the other, this Seifer sounded like bad news. And… she felt like she should get to work on something. Still… It sounded fun, if she really could experience such a thing.

“Okay,” Naminé said. “I’ll go with you guys, if you don’t mind.”

“Wouldn’t’ve offered if we did,” Pence said. “Come on.”

Naminé followed the group through the market and into an alley, where in the end was a small room blocked off by a chain-link fence with a gate that was cracked.

They led the way into the room. Inside was a couch, various crates, and a metal structure that seemed to be machinery. The brick wall had shutters that didn’t seem to lead into anywhere. It was obvious that this room was not made for a hangout spot, but they had made it such.

“Welcome to the Usual Spot!” Hayner announced. “Make yourself at home.”

Naminé looked around. “Thank you,” she said after a moment.

Olette made her way over to the couch. “Come on,” she said as she sat down, patting the seat next to her.

Naminé walked over and sat down, settling the sketchpad on her lap.

“Oh! You draw?” Olette asked.

“Well—a little. I’m not that good.”

“I’m sure you’re fine.”

“For now, let’s figure out what we’re going to do now,” Hayner said. “Summer’s almost over, which means it’s time for the Struggle.”

“Right. And of course you’re going to participate,” Pence said.

“Of course!” He shook his head. “It’s too bad I don’t know anyone who’s going to participate other than Seifer’s gang. I need to practice, and they’re no way I’m doing it with them!”

“It is; but I’m not fighting, and neither is Olette.”

“Dang,” Hayner said. “This really bites.”

Naminé smiled softly as she watched and listened. She didn’t have anything to contribute to the conversation, but it was amusing seeing these other teens’ activities. Their movements, their actions; it might help her out in her task to learn more about what a teenager really did.

“You don’t look much like a fighter either, Naminé,” Hayner interrupted her thoughts. “Right?”

“Oh, me? Of course not!”

“Dang.”

“Can’t you just practice your form?”

“I’ve already been doing that! It’s not the same as sparring.” He rubbed that back of his head. “Oh well.”

“I’m sure you can beat Seifer anyway!” Olette said. “The final round might be a bit much, but it shouldn’t be so bad to fight Seifer. You’ve done it before.”

“Of course I’ll beat him!” Hayner said.

Naminé frowned. “Is this Seifer dangerous?”

“Nah, not really,” Olette said. “He wouldn’t hurt someone like you. He likes to think he’s defending the town by fighting people like Hayner that he thinks are causing ‘trouble’.”

“Oh.” She was relieved. If she was going to remain here in Twilight Town, she needed to be careful.

“So, Naminé; where’d you come from?” Pence asked.

“I’m not… not really sure,” Naminé admitted. She knew she was born in Castle Oblivion and that she was a nobody, but as far as what that really meant, she had no idea.

“Oh?” Olette covered her mouth. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry; you can hang out with us!” Hayner said with a grin.

“If you need a place to stay, you can stay here,” Pence offered.

Naminé smiled. “Thank you.” She was grateful for their kindness. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She paused. “But, I am going to be busy.”

“That’s all right. School starts soon anyway,” Hayner said. “Don’t worry; we won’t rat you out, so they make you go too.”

“Really? Thank you!”

“That’s what friends are for, right?” Olette said.

“Friends. Of course!” Naminé couldn’t stop smiling. If this was the new timeline, one where she was free to do what she wanted… Well, there was no reason to keep traces of the old one that might come back and haunt her.

But first she had to stop Xion from fighting Kairi, and the only way she knew how to do that was to give her those missing memories. Could she fulfil both tasks together? Or would one doom the other?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

(Kairi)

“Hollow Bastion?” Kairi asked as they neared the world.

“It looks… different,” Riku said.

“It looks like the town is being rebuilt,” Goofy noted.

“Hey, this is where Leon and the others went, isn’t it?” Donald asked.

Kairi nodded as she leaned forward to get a better look. “That’s right. This is where we left them.”

“This place definitely looks like a work in progress,” Riku said. “I wonder if they aren’t too busy to stop in?”

“Well, Sora could be here,” Kairi said. “It’s important that we stop and look everywhere, don’t you think?”

“And the king could be, too!” Goofy agreed.

“Right,” Riku said.

“I’m landing,” Donald said.

Once the ship was settled, they climbed out into the open. They stood on top of a high wall, the closest place to land the ship. Kairi looked down over the area below. They were far from the castle now, and the ruins of a town were being cleared and buildings rebuilt where little had stood before. Still, much construction was in progress, as little time had passed since control was returned to the world and the survivors returned to their homes.

Goofy looked around. “How are we supposed to find Leon and the others?”

“First we need to find a way down,” Donald said.

Kairi scanned the wall. “There’s a staircase over there,” she said. She headed toward it. The others followed.

“As far as how we find them, I guess we ask around,” Riku said. “We need to ask about Sora, too.”

“This is a pretty big world,” Goofy said. “It might take us a while to look around.”

“We’ll take as long as we need to,” Kairi said with a shrug.

“We need to find a way to help the king, too,” Donald said. “Last we knew, he was behind that door.”

“So, I suppose that means we need to find a way behind that door.” Kairi put her hand to her chin. “You know, we don’t know what was on the other side.”

“Does it really matter what was there?” Riku asked.

“Well, if it was something too dangerous, it might be better to let it be,” Donald said. “The king is strong; as much as I want to help him, he knows how to get out of bad situations.”

“Then why were you so worried before?” Kairi asked.

Goofy put his hand to his chin. “Well, of course we’re still worried! But whatever’s behind that door is awful dangerous, and we don’t want to get you and Riku into trouble.”

“Hey! We could get out of trouble!” Kairi protested.

Riku shook his head. “But we have other priorities if they don’t mind trusting the King.”

Kairi looked at him and sighed. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be getting all worked up over this.”

Donald’s forehead furrowed. It was clear that he was worried about the king, but he didn’t want it to interfere with their mission. “Kairi, do you think the King is remembering Sora, too?” he asked. “I hope it’s not confusing him too much.”

Kairi glanced down at him. “If he’s as great as you’ve made him sound, I’m sure he can handle a few mixed-up memories,” Kairi said. “Besides, no one was confused until they met Sora, and he didn’t talk to Sora back by that door.”

He looked relieved. “Right.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs and the main town. “It’s so funny how much things have been repaired already,” Riku said. “Last time we were here, there wasn’t a sign of a town.”

“I wonder if pieces returned when that door was sealed,” Kairi said.

“Who knows?” Donald said. He stopped at a crossroads and looked around. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s outside.”

“That’s strange,” Kairi said. “I wonder what’s up?”

Riku looked around. “Surely someone’s around.”

Goofy pointed. “Heartless!”

“They’re still here, too?” Kairi asked, looking down the road where he gestured. She summoned her Keyblade and ran toward them. The others followed.

A brief battle began, but in between the attacks, Kairi noticed something strange; a cylinder of light rose from the ground briefly in bursts below the enemies. It seemed to cause damage. The phenomenon continued throughout the skirmish.

Once the battle was over, Kairi looked around. “What were those lights?”

“I don’t know,” Riku said. “They seemed to help us, though.”

“That’s our new technology!” a familiar voice called from above. “It’s still a work in progress…” Yuffie hopped down from on top of the building. “That’s why the streets are empty while we test it. We haven’t gotten through all the kinks yet to know people will be safe.”

“Yuffie!” Kairi said.

“Hey, Kairi! What brings you to Hollow Bastion—or should I say, Radiant Garden in progress?”

“Radiant Garden?”

“That’s what this world used to be called, before the Heartless came.” Yuffie shook her head. “But you wouldn’t know that.”

“I think Cid may have mentioned it.”

Riku walked closer. “Say, Yuffie; any of you guys see Sora around here?” he asked.

“Sora? No; at least, I haven’t,” she said. “Shouldn’t he have been returned to his world like everybody else?”

“That’s what Solace said, but I don’t know as I trust Solace,” Kairi said.

“Can’t say I blame you.” Yuffie shrugged. “Hey, while you’re around, why don’t you come see what we’ve been up to! We’re figuring out how to do all kinds of things with the new town.”

“It seems to be coming up really fast!” Goofy said.

“Surprisingly so! People are all pitching in to get houses put back up so people have places to stay; for now, part of the empty castle is serving as a roof over everyone’s heads.”

“I take it there are fewer Heartless inside, then?” Riku asked.

“Definitely,” Yuffie said. “And people have gotten wily enough to handle the ones that come their way.”

“That’s great!” Kairi cheered.

“Well, come on! Our base is this way!” Yuffie said, leading them down the street.

They arrived at a wooden frame of a building, the walls up but the roof tarped over to keep out any animals or weather. There were boards instead of windows, and the door was obviously made of scrap wood. Things must have been dire to be working in such a building, and Kairi wondered why they wouldn’t work in the castle instead.

Yuffie pushed open the door and led the way in. “Leon, Aerith, Cid! Look who it is!”

Leon and Aerith looked up, but Cid was seated in front of a large metal structure with a screen that shone out light. Kairi didn’t recognize such a piece of furniture. He didn’t look over. Leon had gotten a haircut in the time that had passed.

“What are you guys doing here?” Leon asked.

Aerith frowned. “Were you not returned to your worlds as the others were?”

“We still have work to do,” Kairi replied.

“I see…” Leon shook his head. “Is Sora not with you?”

Riku frowned. “No. We’re not sure where he went.”

“Oh! Probably back to you guys’ world, then,” Yuffie said. “I wouldn’t worry about him!”

“Solace said he was sent to our world, but I don’t know if we should believe him,” Kairi said.

“Everyone who belonged here returned,” Leon said. “It seems like wherever you went and whatever you did restored things to as they once were.”

“Really?” Donald asked.

“That’s what Master Yen Sid said, remember?” Goofy said.

Kairi nodded. “That’s true…”

Riku shook his head. “Still, you’ll keep your eye out for him, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Aerith said.

“So. This town is being rebuilt quickly,” Kairi said.

“Yep!” Yuffie said. “And we’re in charge!”

“Really?” Riku asked.

“Why are you so skeptical?” Yuffie complained. She shook her head. “We’re the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee! Without help, the town’s returning to what it once was.”

“Or at least, as close as it can be,” Aerith said. “It’s going to take years before it returns to its original splendor.”

“Things seem to be going okay so far,” Kairi said.

There was something unsettling about this place. It was clear that nothing was the same as it had been before the Heartless came, but for some reason, that bugged Kairi more than it should. She remembered bits and pieces of this world from her early childhood—this was where she had been born, after all—so was that why she felt so melancholy seeing it in this state? The memories weren’t clear, and this wasn’t her home now, so why did it hurt so much?

Leon closed his eyes for a moment. “Was the defense system working okay?” he asked Yuffie.

“Yep! I don’t think it hurt them at all while they were fighting.”

“It didn’t,” Kairi confirmed. “I take it that system is supposed to control the Heartless?”

“Yes,” Leon said. “It’s supposed to keep the streets clear enough to be safe. There’s no way a simple machine can clear away all the Heartless, but it can be of some use.”

“It seemed to help us, though I don’t know as it does enough damage to defeat Heartless on its own.”

“How does it work?” Riku asked. “Is it magic?”

“No, it’s technology!” Yuffie said. “It’s controlled by this computer over here that Cid’s working on. It is a beam system that seeks—”

“You lost me. Computer?” Riku said.

“Like the things that control the Gummi ship.” Kairi said. She looked for confirmation from Yuffie. “…Right?”

“Right!” Yuffie said.

“Is that thing that Cid’s at a computer?”

“It is.” Yuffie looked puzzled. “Why don’t you guys know about computers?”

“They’re not really something that exists back on our islands,” Kairi said. “There are a few similar devices, like cash registers, but that’s about as advanced as it gets.”

“Really?” Yuffie seemed baffled.

Leon frowned at her. “You know that other worlds are very different from our own.”

“Yeah, but—”

“It’s no big deal,” Kairi said. “So long as nobody’s asking us to do anything with them, it’s no big deal.”

“If you don’t know anything about computers, there’s no way I’m letting you anywhere near this thing,” Cid said, turning around. “Sorry I took so long to greet you; I was trying to figure out how to set things up.”

“No worries,” Kairi said. “So how have you all been?”

“Busy,” Cid said.

“I’ll bet.”

“Cid’s been manning the computers to control the defense system while the three of us have been overseeing construction,” Aerith said.

“Well, that’s good.”

“We’ve also been doing some research on the Ansem’s Reports,” Aerith said. “It turns out, they might not have been done by Ansem the Wise at all.”

“What?” Riku asked.

“He had several apprentices,” she said, “one of which was named Xehanort.”

Kairi froze. That name; first Solace had mentioned it, then Yen Sid, now Aerith?

Aerith continued. “It is entirely possible that Xehanort took on the name of Ansem in order to do research into the Heartless, and that all of this was his fault.”

“What all do you know about him?” Kairi asked.

Aerith shook her head. “Not much yet, but I will continue my research and let you know as I find out more.”

“Thanks, Aerith,” Kairi said.

“Seems you’re all pretty busy,” Donald said.

Leon nodded. “We’re managing.”

“I guess we shouldn’t take up too much of your time, then,” Riku said. “You’ll keep an eye open for Sora, though, won’t you?”

“Of course, but I don’t think he’s anywhere around here,” Leon said. “I know that Solace is a bad guy, but he probably was telling you the truth about having sent Sora home.”

“Yeah, but what if he wasn’t?” Kairi worried.

“Can you keep your eyes open for the King, too?” Donald asked.

“Of course we can,” Cid said. “Haven’t seen him in years!”

“Thanks, guys,” Kairi said. “I hope rebuilding the town continues to go well!”

“It will,” Leon said.

Kairi turned to the others. “Let’s go.”

“Shouldn’t we ask if they’ve seen anyone from the Organization?” Goofy asked.

“Oh. Right.” Kairi turned back. “Have you guys seen people wearing black cloaks around here?”

Aerith nodded. “They don’t seem to be doing any harm. They are just… observing. Still, it’s unsettling.”

Leon crossed his arms. “We’re keeping an eye on them.”

“We’ll take a look around for them while we’re here,” Kairi said. She smiled and waved. “See you guys later!”

“Don’t be strangers!” Yuffie said.

Kairi led the way out the door.

 

Kairi led the way down the center street, arms folded behind her head. “If we were ‘observing’ people, where would we watch from?”

“Well, Yuffie said most of the people are inside the castle,” Riku said.

“The castle’s pretty big. It’d be easy to hide in there,” Donald said.

“Too big, too many places to hide. We’d never find them,” Kairi said. She relaxed her arms to her sides. “If we knew their motive, it’d be easier to find them.”

“We know they’re trying to create Kingdom Hearts,” Goofy said. “And to do that, they have to gather hearts.”

“But how do they gather the hearts? Do they take them from people? Yen Sid didn’t say, did he?” Riku asked.

Kairi paused. “I thought only Heartless could take someone’s heart…” She shook her head. “You know, when we defeat a Heartless, there’s always this shining heart that emerges from the Heartless and floats upward. Maybe they defeat Heartless and gather the hearts they drop?”

“Wouldn’t that mean they’re helping?” Goofy asked.

“No! They’re doing it to create that source of power, not out of the goodness in their hearts,” Donald said.

“Not that they have hearts,” Riku added.

Kairi stopped and put her hand to her chin. “Still, if they are destroying Heartless, that helps find them, doesn’t it?” The others stopped too. “They’d be where there are a lot of Heartless, which wouldn’t be in the castle; it’d be out on the streets like this.”

“And the best place to observe from would be up high,” Riku said.

“So, we look out here for a bit, then we move on,” Kairi said with a nod. She started walking again.

The streets still seemed empty barring a few Heartless here and there. It seemed the Restoration Committee must not have asked the citizens to leave the castle yet. That was probably wise if they weren’t sure that the defense system was working properly.

“What’s this I heard about Keyblade wielders?” A male voice said from above.

Kairi looked up and fell into a defensive position as she noticed the person in question; they wore a black cloak. “Organization XIII?”

“That would be correct,” the man said. “Man oh man, how are we so behind? Last we knew you had run off to that graveyard of worlds. How’d you end up here instead of—” He studied them. “Wait, this isn’t right…”

“What in the worlds are you talking about?” Kairi asked. “And how did you know we were in there?”

“We’ve got ears all around. And Keyblade wielders are high on our list,” he said. “So, listen, I have a question; how come you two are here, not the other guy?”

“Someone else who’s confused?” Donald asked.

“This must be because of Solace,” Riku said.

“Who is Solace?” the man asked.

“It doesn’t matter who he is,” Kairi said.

“But if Sora’s not here, why is Roxas—” the man shook his head. “I mean, wow. What an honor to meet you find Keyblade wielders who I have no idea who you are.”

“What are you talking about? Who is Roxas?” Kairi asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” his voice said from behind her. She turned around to face him, swinging her Keyblade, he phased through her. “I’ll just be taking this and let you go on your way.”

“Taking what?” Kairi frantically searched her person for anything missing; she found nothing out of place.

“What did you do to her?” Riku demanded as the man reappeared on top of the building.

“Nothing important,” he said. “Say, listen, about all this—why don’t you pretend this didn’t happen and keep on your merry way. We won’t bother you if you don’t bother us.”

“Yen Sid said that the Organization is trying to form a new Kingdom Hearts, for a bad reason—we have to bother you,” Kairi said.

“Oh? The old man knows about our plans?” He tilted his head. “I wonder how he found out… But, not to worry; I don’t think our reason’s so bad.” He waved. “I’ll be on my way now. Best of luck fighting Heartless.” A swirling portal of darkness appeared behind him and he walked through it.

“Get back here! What did you take from me?” Kairi demanded, running toward the building; but she couldn’t climb it, and the portal disappeared.

“Are you all right, Kairi?” Riku asked, rushing over.

“He didn’t hurt me, but he said he took something,” Kairi said. “But nothing is missing; what did he take?”

“If you have everything, it was probably nothing,” Goofy said.

“He was just trying to psych you out,” Donald said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“We didn’t find out anything new, did we?” Kairi said with a sigh. “Oh well. We’ll just have to find one of them again!”

“Right!” Riku said. “What now?”

Kairi looked around. “We could see if there are any others, or we could move on.”

“Let’s move on,” Donald said. “It doesn’t seem like the King is here, and neither is Sora.”

“True…” Kairi shook her head. “Okay, on to the next world!”


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

(Naminé)

Naminé put her hand to her head as she was overcome by sudden pain. Something had happened to Kairi’s memories; but what?

She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the quiet rumbling of machinery that filled the room. She was a witch with power over Kairi’s memories now, not Sora’s. It made sense that she would notice something happening to those memories. However, because of her powers, she retained information from the old timeline. That meant there might be some hint in the old timeline that told her what had happened if there wasn’t anything now.

She needed a moment to think. She had been spending all her time focusing on coming up with a way to get Roxas and Xion away from the organization, but last she knew, Xion wasn’t yet there. She would be able to tell if she arrived; she was made from Sora’s memories previously. From what Solace said, in this timeline she would be made of Kairi’s.

But the Organization didn’t have a sample of Kairi’s memories to create her with. She knew that they would have to obtain one, since Solace said Xion would exist. Naminé wasn’t sure, however, how they would. Perhaps that was what had happened to the memories? She took a moment to let her mind wander, feeling out for hints of recent memories. Kairi had run into an Organization member, and they had approached her. That seemed to be the case; Kairi’s memories had been sampled. But had further damage been done? Naminé wasn’t sure at this point.

Yet another thing she needed to work out. She could only assume that Xion would be made from Kairi’s memories. Roxas was surely still Sora’s Nobody, as it was impossible for Kairi to truly form one. He must’ve come from Sora’s heart held within Kairi. Yet something felt off, like something was out of place, where it didn’t belong… but so much did now. So much was different, and yet Naminé was stuck remembering how things had been.

But things were so much better now. She had no reason to want to go back to the way things had been in the other timeline, regardless of how many changes there were. Naminé was free here, thanks to Solace. She wasn’t held captive by Marluxia and Larxene, forced to use their powers to erase Sora’s memories. While she still had to use her powers to manipulate people, this time she knew it was for the right reasons. She needed to get Roxas and Xion away from the Organization so that Kairi would be safe. If she could succeed, everything would fall into place.

But with how much better things were here, she was left once again to consider Solace’s words and his request. It had been a simple request, and one that could do so much good rather than evil. If she could remove the fragments of the old timeline, everything would fall into place. She could truly be free, as could everyone else. All that held her back was if she would be able to still use those fragments to sway Roxas and Xion… She thought she could isolate them to those two individuals. If so, she could go ahead with the plan.

Was it wrong to do what Solace wished? On one hand, Solace had saved her, and he made a good point. He wasn’t forcing her to do it. It was her choice. She knew what he had done, but was it really such a bad thing?

On the other hand, Solace had manipulated the universe itself. Someone using that much power recklessly had to be dangerous and shouldn’t be trusted. Yet, he chose to help her, and though he had requests, he gave her free will.

She knew now: to her, Solace and this new timeline were the lesser of evils. She could help people if she did as Solace wished, people other than him. Whether his hidden reasons were greedy or not, she didn’t know; but to Naminé, this was the right decision.

It was time to change the memories of everyone connected to Sora, to remove the fragments that remained from the old timeline, to set everyone free.

It was time to do what she felt was right, no matter what anyone else might think.

This was her choice to make; and she had made it.

She opened her sketchpad, grabbed her pencils, and got to work.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

(Kairi)

“Wack? This is the next world?” Donald said, staring down at the world below.

Kairi glanced down. There stood a pristine white castle with a blue roof; below stood a town of whimsical colors. In short, it was a bit garish to look at, but it looked peaceful; looks could be deceiving, though.

“What about it?” she asked.

Goofy looked out of the ship. “Well, this is our home world!” Goofy said. “The worlds are all out of whack for some reason; we shouldn’t be anywhere near it!”

“Yen Sid did say that the Lanes Between were different now,” Riku said.

Donald swallowed. “We can’t go down there,” he said. “We told the Queen and Daisy that we’d find the King and bring him back, and we haven’t!”

“Gawrsh, Donald; I know we said that, but—”

“What if something’s happened to this world in the time you’ve been gone?” Kairi asked. “Is it possible that the Heartless have gotten here, too?”

“Not possible,” Donald said. “This world is protected. Nothing dangerous could be here.”

“Protected by what?” Riku asked.

“The Cornerstone of Light,” Goofy said.

Donald elbowed him. “It’s supposed to be secret!”

“They’re our friends, and they’re the Keyblade wielders. We trust them,” Goofy said. “They aren’t going to tell anyone dangerous.”

“You’re right; we won’t,” Kairi said. “Well, if you really think it is safe, there isn’t any reason to go down there.”

“I don’t know, Donald; I’ve got a bad feeling,” Goofy said.

“You probably just have indigestion,” Donald snapped.

“What if the King came back here on his own?” Riku asked.

“Then the world is doubly safe,” Donald said. “Let’s move on.”

Kairi glanced to the side of the ship. She spotted something coming toward the world. “Wait a sec; is that a Heartless ship?”

Everyone looked over. “It is!” Riku said. “Donald, we have to land if the Heartless are here.”

“How could they be here? This world is safe!” Donald said. He looked just as worried as he looked shocked, and he returned to the ship’s controls. “You’re right; we have to make sure everything’s okay. There shouldn’t be Heartless ships so close.”

“I hope everything’s okay,” Kairi said. She sat back down in her seat and waited for them to approach. She hoped they would be able to land safely without incident, but with more Heartless ships approaching from the distance, she was beginning to worry that it would be easier said than done.

“Gawrsh, I hope the Queen’s okay,” Goofy said.

“Shut up, Goofy! She’s fine!” Donald snapped.

“Okay, okay,” Goofy said, falling silent; but he was tense, and Kairi could tell that he was still thinking about what could be happening there.

“Don’t worry, Goofy; we’ll make it there and find out that she’s okay,” Kairi said. She smiled to try to calm him down, but he didn’t respond, looking away; it was uncharacteristic for Goofy to act like this; he must have been more disturbed that any of them had ever seen him.

Donald led the ship into a dock near the castle and came to a stop. “This is good enough,” he said, opening the hatch. “Chip, Dale; can you take care of the ship?”

“Of course!” Chip said.

“You can count on us!” Dale said.

Donald led the way out of the ship and was halfway up the stairs before Riku climbed out, Goofy shortly behind them.

“Come on, let’s catch up!” Kairi said to Riku. They rushed to catch up with their friends.

Once they were up the staircase, they entered a garden courtyard. As Kairi looked around she spotted the monsters. “Heartless!” she called out.

Donald and Goofy wheeled around to look and saw the creatures as well. “What? How are they here?” Donald asked in shock.

“I don’t know, but we need to get to fighting them, so we can find the Queen and Daisy,” Goofy said. “Come on, fellas, let’s do this!”

“Right!” Kairi said, summoning her Keyblade and rushing at a group of the creatures. They fell quickly; they were weak, and it seemed like most of the ones here were.

“Which way do we need to go?” Riku asked.

“I don’t know for sure where they’ll be,” Donald said, “but the first place we should check is the throne room.”

“I don’t think the King’s here, do you Donald?” Goofy asked.

“No, Goofy; stop asking stupid questions!”

“Hey, be nice!” Kairi snapped at Donald. “Goofy, I doubt he’s here if there are Heartless around, but I’m sure that he’s okay and so are the Queen and Daisy.”

They rushed down the hall, fighting Heartless along the way. Kairi knew that no one knew how the Heartless were here, but they needed to worry about their actions rather than the cause. It wasn’t a matter of why the Heartless were here, but rather what were they doing? Were they going after the heart of this world as they had gone for so many others before?

Kairi was worried. The Queen and Daisy were so important, if there were any of Maleficent’s lackeys left to be doing the kind of thing that she used to do there was no telling what would happen to them if they remained undefended. Kairi didn’t know much about this Cornerstone of Light, either, but it might be in danger too.

They arrived at the throne room. The door was closed, and there was a shimmering barrier of light surrounding it. Kairi paused. “Do you suppose this is to protect who’s inside?”

“Probably,” Riku said.

“But what if it’s keeping them inside?” Donald worried. “What if they’re trapped in there with a bunch of Heartless?”

“Don’t worry, Donald; we’ll just go inside to check,” Goofy said, reaching up to the door. He went to knock but pulled his hand back. “Ouch.”

“What’s wrong?” Donald asked, reaching his wing up to do the same. “Ouch, that burns!”

“Maybe they are stuck in there,” Riku said, going to touch the door as well.

“Don’t be stupid and touch the door too!” Kairi said. “If it burned them, when they’re supposed to be here, it’ll certainly burn you.”

Riku studied her. “What about you?”

Kairi blinked. “Me?”

“It looks like a barrier of light, and isn’t your heart pure light?”

“That’s right!” Kairi reached for the door. It didn’t burn her hand. “Okay; you guys wait out here. I’ll make sure the Queen’s safe.”

She carefully pushed in the door. “Hello?” she called into the wide room. “Is anyone in here?”

“Firaga!” A burst of flame flew toward Kairi. She barely had time to jump out of the way.

Kairi summoned her Keyblade. “Who’s there?” She looked around.

In the distance stood a petite figure clad in a pink dress. Upon her head, between two massive round ears, sat a crown. Her hand was lit up with another spell. “Don’t come any closer!” she said.

“No, no! I’m not here to hurt you, your majesty!” Kairi said. She held up her Keyblade. “My name is Kairi. I’m here with Donald and Goofy. They couldn’t get through the barrier, and we wanted to make sure that you were all right!”

“Donald and Goofy?” she asked.

“Yes! They’re right outside.” Kairi smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t come any closer unless there are Heartless around; if there are, then I need to help protect you!”

The Queen discharged her spell and lowered her hands. “I… I can’t let them in. I don’t know how you got in, either.”

“I’m a Princess of Heart. Your barrier stops darkness, correct?”

“Why, yes.” She tilted her head. “How did you know?”

“Riku was right, then,” Kairi said. “You see, I don’t have any darkness in my heart, so the barrier couldn’t stop me.” She shook her head. “I can leave you alone now that we know you’re safe.”

The Queen tilted her head. “Kairi; why did they come back here?”

“Master Yen Sid told us to travel between worlds to stop the darkness,” Kairi said. “The path led to here. Donald didn’t want to stop, but we saw Heartless ships landing, so we knew we needed to make sure you were safe.”

“I’m safe, and I’m trying to protect the Cornerstone.” The Queen sighed and looked down. “It feels like a lost cause, I’m afraid. I can’t go anywhere. I can’t do anything to protect my people without the Cornerstone working properly. I sent Daisy out to look for a way to contact Donald and Goofy, but you made it on your own. They must search for her!”

“Your majesty, you said the Cornerstone isn’t working correctly; is there any way to fix it and protect this world?”

The Queen looked at her hands. “I’m afraid I don’t know.” She clenched her fists. “It’s all that stupid Pete’s fault! Maleficent freed him, and now he’s come back for revenge; but I can’t believe he’d work with someone like her. He was a troublemaker, but I never imagined he would do something so vile; I was right to seal him away, but now he’s free and causing damage.”

Kairi paused. “Your majesty, I’ll tell them to look for Daisy… but may I stay and help you protect the Cornerstone, and try to find out if there’s anything I can do to fix it?”

“You’d do that for me?” she asked.

“Of course!” Kairi said.

She nodded. “All right, your Highness; let them know, and come back.”

“Err, I’m not really a princess,” Kairi said. “Just call me Kairi.”

“Of course,” the Queen said. “You can just call me Minnie.”

“I’ll be back!”

Kairi headed to the door and stepped out for a moment.

“You’re safe!” Riku said.

Kairi nodded. “Donald, Goofy; the Queen sent Daisy out to find a way to contact you. She needs you to look for her.”

“Wack? Of course!” Donald said.

“We’ll get right on it!” Goofy said.

“I’m going back to help the Queen with the Cornerstone,” Kairi said.

“Alone?” Riku asked.

“Yeah; I can take care of her.”

Riku looked at Donald and Goofy. “Can you two handle finding Daisy?”

“Of course!” Donald said. “We can handle a few Heartless.”

“Then I’ll stay here and guard the door.”

“What?” Kairi protested. “What if something big attacks them?”

“What if something big comes here and gets through that barrier?” Riku said. “I can make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“But you shouldn’t be on your own!” Kairi said.

“Neither should you.”

Kairi shook her head and crossed her arms. “Fine,” she said, “but you’d better call for help if things get too sketchy.”

“Promise,” Riku said with a smile.

Kairi nodded. “I’m going back in.” She headed inside the door.

The Queen looked up.

Kairi smiled. “They’re on it,” she said. “Now then, tell me everything that happened.”


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

(Kairi)

“Well, it all started a few weeks ago,” Minnie said, looking at her hands. “Things were still safe. The Cornerstone was still working fine; but then Pete arrived in town.”

“Pete?” Kairi asked.

“Pete has always been a trouble maker, but all he used to want was to be popular. Now he’s working with Maleficent to control the Heartless and rule the worlds.” Minnie shook her head. “He said that Maleficent is missing, but that she’d want him to keep spreading the Heartless, and here is the best place to do that.”

“So, Pete messed up the Cornerstone?” Kairi asked.

“I’m unsure. There shouldn’t be any way that he could have made it into the room where it is held without being noticed, but it was soon after he arrived that it stopped working properly and Heartless were able to enter this world.” Minnie looked up at Kairi. “We have to find out how it happened before we can fix it, but I’ve been too afraid to go down and see what has happened to the Cornerstone.”

Kairi looked around. “Where is it? I can check.”

“I can’t let you go down on your own. It’s too dangerous.”

“Why’s it dangerous?”

“For something to interfere with the Cornerstone’s power, it would have to be immensely powerful. I can only imagine what that might be.”

Kairi nodded. “I’ll be very careful, I promise.”

Minnie placed her hands over her heart. “All right.” She held out a hand, and the floor slowly sank into a staircase. “It’s down there.”

“Right. I’ll be back.” Kairi cautiously descended the stairs.

At the bottom, on top of a pedestal in the center of the room, stood a giant crystal orb. Within the orb swirled a mass of light; but around the light was an aura of darkness, leaking in past the barrier and into the land around. This was how the Heartless were able to enter; the barrier was falling apart.

Kairi walked over to the Cornerstone and studied it. There was something about it that she couldn’t put her finger on, but she felt like things weren’t as dire as they could have been. If Maleficent was missing, just how much damage could Pete do?

Kairi made her way up the stairs grimly before walking up to the Queen. “Darkness has invaded the crystal,” Kairi said.

“Oh dear!” Minnie said.

“I think we need to find Pete and find out what he did,” Kairi said. “Do you have any idea where he went?”

“He went out in search of Maleficent,” Minnie said.

“Right.” Kairi looked toward the door. “I really can’t leave until we do something about the Cornerstone. This world is in danger…” She shook her head. “But unless we know what he did, we can’t fix it… can we?” She tilted her head. “I’m going to go back down there for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

“Do be careful!” Minnie said, watching her as she descended the stairs once more.

Once in front of the Cornerstone, Kairi summoned her Keyblade. She lifted it and pointed it at the stone. “Maybe I can seal it like a Keyhole,” Kairi thought. She focused her energy on the blade and a beam of light shone from it. The light got brighter and brighter as it hit the Cornerstone. Kairi felt herself being knocked backward into the staircase—and then everything went black as she hit her head.

 

_“So. You want to fix the Cornerstone on your own.” A voice rang through the darkness._

_“Who are you?” Kairi asked._

_“You have met me, but I am no one of consequence,” they said. “Hmm… You’re very reckless, you know. Anything could have happened. You could have even broken the Cornerstone.”_

_“What?!”_

_“You didn’t, so don’t worry about it,” the voice said. “All you did was fill it with more light. It was dangerous, but it didn’t ruin things.” The voice paused. “You see, Pete hasn’t had time to follow the path that was previously in place. Without Maleficent’s guidance and powers, he wasn’t able to go into the past.”_

_“What are you talking about?” Kairi asked._

_“I can’t tell you much. It would make Naminé’s work much harder if I did,” the voice said. “Let’s just say, you already know what I mean when I say ‘the previous path’.”_

_“Wait; Solace?” Kairi tried to sit up, but still around here was darkness. When she turned her head, there he stood, the white cloaked figure. She didn’t feel threatened, rather, at ease being watched over._

_“I can’t see why it would be a problem to let this slide,” he said. “After all, it’s not my worry anymore.”_

_“Solace, what—”_

_“I fixed the Cornerstone. The castle is safe once more,” he said._

_“Where are we?”_

_“You were knocked unconscious,” he said. “This is your mind at the moment.” He shook his head. “Now; you must find Pete before he finds the way to travel to the past, and you must stop him from doing so.”_

_“What… why do you care?” Kairi asked._

_“Let’s just say that I never wanted to make these changes a burden on anyone,” he said. He sighed and walked over to her. “Now; you will awaken and remember nothing but that task; find Pete and stop him from going any further.”_

_“Wait, what do you—”_

“Kairi!” Minnie panicked as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Kairi slowly opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing the back of her head. “Ouch.”

“What in the world did you do?” Minnie said. She put a hand on Kairi’s head and cast a cure spell.

“I think I fixed it,” Kairi said, looking back at the Cornerstone. It no longer had a swirling of darkness within, once again pure light. “But, we have to stop Pete from damaging it again.” Kairi stood up and brushed herself off.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Minnie asked.

“I’m fine,” Kairi said with a nod. “Let’s go back up and close this place off.”

“All right.” Minnie led the way up the stairs.

Once they were at the top, Kairi looked at Minnie. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” Kairi repeated. “Now then, if I were Pete, where would I go?”

“In the past, he would’ve gone to torment the townspeople if he had a way to do so; controlling Heartless would certainly be that way.”

“Do you know if they will be gone or if the Cornerstone will simply stop more from coming?”

“I’m not sure,” Minnie said.

“Will you be all right here if I go out there?” Kairi asked.

Minnie nodded. “Of course.”

“I’ll be back soon,” she said. “Keep yourself safe!”

“I will; and the Cornerstone, too.”

Kairi nodded and headed to the door.

She opened it. “Riku! New plan—”

Riku stood in front of what Kairi could only assume was another resident of Disneytown. They were a massive, fat cat, clad in a red jumpsuit with lots of zippers.

“Now listen, kid—you’re going to let me in there to the Queen. I just want to have a little chat with her.”

“No way!” Riku said, Keyblade at the ready. “And those Heartless aren’t going to convince me, either.”

Kairi closed the door behind herself, summoned her Keyblade, and walked beside Riku. “You must be Pete,” she said.

“And if I am?” Pete asked.

Kairi pointed her Keyblade at him. “You’re not getting to the Queen or the Cornerstone!”

“And what’s a little girlie like you going to do about it?” he mocked.

Kairi felt her temper flare. “Who are you calling a little girlie?”

“Why you, of course. Just a little kid waving around a key. What do you think you’re going to do?”

Kairi slashed the weapon through the Heartless surrounding him, destroying them. “You want to try it?”

“So, who is he?” Riku asked.

“He’s the one who caused this whole mess!” Kairi said. “What made you go from wanting popularity to trying to destroy a world?”

“That’s none of your business!” he said. He looked far more cautious now. “Now then, if you’ll let me through.”

“No way!” Kairi said. “You’ve already caused enough trouble around here. Why don’t you beat it?”

“Now listen, you: I’m going to talk to the Queen whether you like it or not, so you may as well step aside. Without the King here, someone needs to do something.”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Kairi asked.

“Someone needs to protect this town—”

“And you’re going to do that using Heartless?” Riku asked. “Give me a break! They’re causing the problem.”

“Maleficent has always wanted to get her hands on that Cornerstone, and I was going to help her. But then I realized, there’s so much more I could do. I could be the hero again and help this town!” Pete shook his head. “Don’t you see? I can’t fix the damage I’ve done to the Cornerstone, but I can stop Maleficent from using it.”

“Maleficent’s not going to be able to use it; don’t worry about that,” Kairi said. “I fixed the damage you had done to it.”

“Huh—what?” Pete gawked.

“That’s right. No more Heartless will be able to make it to this world.”

“Pete!” Minnie said from behind them, the door open; however, she did not step beyond the threshold. “What were you thinking?”

“Oh, uh, your majesty! How lovely it is to see you!” Pete said nervously.

“You put this entire world in danger; just what have we ever done to make you work with someone as vile as Maleficent?”

“You sealed me away!” Pete said.

“It was temporary!” Minnie said. “You were gone before I was able to release you, a few days later.”

“This town never liked me! I never could do anything right!” Pete shook his head. “Whenever I tried to fix things, I just made them worse, and that made you seal me away.”

“You weren’t trying to fix things to fix them; you wanted to force people to like you. You can’t force people to like you; sincere actions will cause them to see the best in you. All you ever did was cause problems.” Minnie shook her head. “It was wrong of me to lose my temper and seal you away; but now you’ve really crossed the line!”

“Your majesty, I—I…” Pete looked down. “I’m sorry, all right? But I can’t fix it.”

“Yes, you can,” Minnie said. “You can control the Heartless, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Send them away from this world,” Minnie said. “Make them leave, stop working with Maleficent; then I will give you a chance to change your ways.”

“What?” Pete said, baffled.

“I always wanted to give you another chance to do things right, and I always gave you that chance; now, you really can make that difference.” Minnie looked at him expectantly. “This is your final chance. Use it wisely.”

“I…” Pete looked away. “I understand, your majesty. I’ll do as you say.” He waved his hand and the Heartless roaming the halls disappeared. “It is done.”

“Riku, why don’t you go make sure?” Kairi said.

“I’m not leaving you two here with this creep,” Riku said.

“The Queen wants to give him another chance,” Kairi said. “Let’s give him one, too.” She paused. “I’ll stay here just in case, but let’s trust that he won’t take advantage of this situation.”

“Very good,” the Queen said. “Thank you, Pete.”

“Your majesty, if you will allow me, I will rejoin the society here, and leave Maleficent behind,” Pete said.

“I don’t know that I can trust you, Pete,” Minnie said. “You must prove yourself.”

“I got rid of the Heartless; what more do you want me to do?” he asked in outrage.

“Guard this world from them, and if Maleficent shows up, you must do as you say and turn her away,” Minnie said. “In the meantime, you will stay here in the castle under the observation of the broomsticks.”

“Broomsticks?” Kairi asked.

“They’re no joke,” Pete said. He nodded and looked down in defeat. “As you wish, your majesty.”

“Thank you, Pete; don’t make me regret this.” The queen turned back to the room. “Thank you for all your help, Kairi.”

“Not a problem.”

Sentient broomsticks converged through the halls and surrounded Pete, leading him elsewhere into the castle.

 

Riku returned shortly, soon followed by Donald, Goofy, and Daisy. Queen Minnie lowered her barrier to allow them into the throne room, where they all convened for a meeting.

“We saw the king a while back, but…” Donald began.

“So, he’s safe!” Minnie cheered.

Donald and Goofy looked at each other briefly, but just long enough to see the gesture if you were looking. Kairi knew what they were thinking. They couldn’t tell her he was behind the door to darkness.

“Right! He’s safe; but he couldn’t come back yet,” Goofy said. “He’s still busy out there helping fight the darkness.”

“Of course,” Minnie said. “I just wish he was here. I’ve handled the kingdom without him before, but it never gets any easier.”

“You’re not alone, though,” Daisy said. “I and many others are glad to help you.”

“I know,” Minnie said, looking down. “But this scare with the Cornerstone has me worried. We had no way to defend ourselves or our people until you arrived.”

“Don’t worry, your majesty. We’ll always be here when we need to be,” Donald said. “You can always get ahold of us through the gummi ship! Chip and Dale stay with it at all times.”

“That’s good to know!” Daisy said. “We’ll keep it in mind.”

“Oh, but you’re usually so busy,” Minnie said.

“Don’t hesitate to contact us anyway,” Kairi said. “We’ll make time.” She paused. “Keep an eye on Pete, okay? I’m not sure I trust him just yet.”

“Me neither,” Donald said, “but I do trust the Queen’s judgement.”

“I feel that he deserves a chance,” Minnie said.

“Then he’ll get that one chance,” Daisy said. “Just one.”

“Yes,” Minnie agreed.

Kairi looked at Donald, Goofy, and Riku. “Well guys, we ought to be going, shouldn’t we?”

“Yes,” Riku said. “We’ve still got to find Sora.”

“Stay safe, your Majesty,” Kairi said.

“You as well. Thank you for your help, Kairi,” Minnie said.

The crew headed toward the Gummi ship to depart for the next world.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

(Naminé)

Xion was whole now. That was enough proof to know that the Organization had taken memories from Kairi to form her, and she had met Roxas and they had fought together long enough for her to take on a full form. Naminé could begin her work with them now.

The past several days had been spent focusing on removing traces of the old timeline, but it was a far more difficult task than just altering Sora or Kairi’s memories. She was having to alter those of everyone that Sora knew. In the other timeline, she had to do something similar; actually, it had been even more complicated back then, completely erasing a person from so many people’s minds. This should be a cakewalk compared to that, removing only traces of something that didn’t even exist from a few minds that were affected. And in the end, she was making things better, not worse.

But now she could tell that much was happening with Roxas, Xion, and the Organization. They didn’t yet know about Kairi’s journey. Their minds still lingered on their own plan of using Roxas or Xion to destroy heartless and gather hearts in the real wielder’s place. It was a simple enough plan, but it was one that Naminé couldn’t allow to pass for long. Somehow, she needed to convince people who had known nothing other than life under the Organization to leave, that what they were doing was harmful rather than helpful, to leave the people who were like them and be on their own.

Perhaps she could use Axel. Axel had befriended Roxas and Xion now, and they looked to him as a mentor of sorts. If she could influence Axel’s perceptions that would soon come as he learned about Kairi and Riku, perhaps she could convince him to leave, too. If he left, they would surely follow… That was, assuming that the Organization decided to turn some focus toward Kairi and Riku. They knew of them. Xigbar had sampled Kairi’s memories to create Xion. It was only a matter of time before they decided to act, since Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy were searching for them to stop them.

Still, Naminé had time. There was no rush to alter the memories of the timeline; if she did so too quickly, people would notice that there were things missing from their minds. Though she needed to stop Xion and Kairi from fighting, she knew that she needed to stall for a while. She needed to find a way to influence their memories just enough without being noticed yet, but she didn’t know how. That puzzle would take some time, and besides, Xion and Roxas needed enough experiences to have a frame of reference from which they could see that the Organization was doing wrong.

“Hey Naminé!” Hayner called from the entrance to the Usual Spot.

She looked up and closed her sketchbook. “Hello, Hayner.”

“Olette and Pence are over at the market getting some ice cream, but I wanted to invite you to join us at the clock tower this time rather than hanging out in this boring old place while we go have fun.” He grinned. “It’s been pretty rude of us not to invite you all along, but I guess we were just getting to know you a little better first.”

“Oh, I—” Naminé blinked. She should be working… but she had just been thinking that there was no rush. She had expected the others to come to hang out here, but she knew they might be going elsewhere as they often did. The last thing she expected, however, was to be invited along.

Naminé smiled. “Sure. I’d love to, if I wouldn’t be intruding.”

“Not at all! I wouldn’t’ve offered if you would be.” Hayner grinned. “Come on, let’s catch up with the others!” He led the way out the door.

0o0o0

Ice cream had been purchased, and now Naminé’s friends had brought her up on top of the high clock tower. She had yet to come here in this timeline, and she wasn’t sure that she had ever been in the other, either. They all settled in on the ledge looking out over the courtyard below and at the sunset in the distance, Naminé and Olette at one end, Hayner and Pence at the other. The sun was always setting here, but this time it seemed so much more striking than from ground level.

“It’s so beautiful up here,” Naminé said in awe.

“It is, isn’t it?” Olette said.

Naminé nodded. “I can see why you like to come up here.”

“Yeah, it’s the best place to relax and blow off some steam after school and on the weekends,” Hayner said.

“School is pretty stressful,” Pence agreed. “Naminé, you’re lucky to not have to go.”

“It’s not fair, really,” Hayner complained. “She gets to sit around all day in our hangout spot, while we have to go and slave over papers!”

“I don’t know, Hayner,” Olette said. “I’d imagine it gets pretty boring.”

“Oh, no, not at all!” Naminé said. “I’m very busy, and it’s such a nice and quiet place to work.”

“You take your art very seriously,” Olette said. “You shouldn’t let to be the focus of your life.” She paused. “Say Naminé, do you think you’ll ever want to come to school?”

“Oh no, not for a while anyway,” Naminé said. “I appreciate you all letting me stay in your hangout spot, but I’m far too busy to take time out of the day for school.”

“You say you’re busy, but you’re just drawing, right?” Hayner said.

“There’s more to it than that, but you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”

Olette frowned. “I don’t know about that.”

“No, I can’t tell you,” Naminé said. “I’m sorry. I know friends aren’t supposed to keep secrets, but this is too important.”

“Are you in some kind of trouble? We can help you get out of it,” Pence said.

“No, not at all!” Naminé assured. “It’s just very important that I keep working without too many distractions. Spending some time with all of you is different; having to focus my entire day on schoolwork would take up too much time.”

“Oh.” Olette looked out at the sunset. “I can’t say that I understand, but I respect it.”

“Me too,” Pence agreed.

“All right, me too,” Hayner said, “though I’m still jealous that you don’t have to go to school.”

“Thank you. You’re good friends to have,” Naminé said. She looked back out at the sunset. “What’s school like, anyway?”

“What? You’ve never been?” Hayner asked in shock.

Naminé shook her head. “No. I’ve been very sheltered for most of my life.” She hated lying, but she couldn’t tell her friends the truth, that she was a Nobody had had only existed for a very short while.

“Up until you came here,” Olette said. “Did you run away?”

“Someone got me out,” she said. Not a lie, just not the whole truth. “He wasn’t able to stick around, though.”

“It must’ve been a bad situation, then,” Hayner said. “Man, I hope things have been better now.”

“Much better,” Naminé said. That was the truth. She knew the alternative, if Solace hadn’t found her in Castle Oblivion and she had been captured by Marluxia and Larxene.

“Say Naminé,” Olette said, leaning forward to look at her. “Do you need somewhere else to stay? Somewhere more secure, an actual roof over your head?”

“Oh, I’m fine where I am,” Naminé said. “It keeps the rain out, and I don’t mind the heat. Besides, if I went anywhere else, they’d make me go to school.”

“Oh. You’re right,” Olette said. “I was just thinking I could ask my folks, but they wouldn’t let you stay out of school.”

“Thank you,” Naminé said.

“Oh! You asked what school is like,” Pence said. “It’s—”

“It’s boring is what it is,” Hayner said. “You sit in a room with a bunch of people in silence for hours on end, slaving over assignments and tests, counting the hours until it’s over and you get to go home. Then when you get home, you have even more work to do!”

“It’s really not that bad,” Pence said. “Some assignments can be fun, and there’s always lunch where you get to talk to people.”

“I know a lot of people other than these two, but most of them don’t care enough to hang out with us,” Olette said. “They have their own cliques.”

“I see,” Naminé said.

“It’s a good way to get to know people,” Olette said. “Most people don’t meet out on the street like you did us.” She paused. “And, it gives us something to do during the day. The freedom of summer is nice for a while, but you eventually run out of things to do.”

Hayner huffed. “Yeah, I guess,” he said.

“Once you’re done with whatever you’re doing, you should start!” Pence said.

“I’ll think about it,” Naminé indulged them. Though it did sound like an interesting experience, she wasn’t sure it was for her. Besides, it was possible that her work would never be done with erasing traces of the old timeline. Having friends was enough of a normal thing for her. After all, she wasn’t normal, even for a Nobody. Not everyone had the power over memories.

“Oh, man though, school bites!” Hayner said. “We’re only a week in and there are already tests!”

“Just because you hate school doesn’t mean that everyone does,” Olette said. “I don’t like test either, but I learn so many things that I never would if I didn’t go.”

“It just gets harder as time goes on,” Pence said. “We’re only in our second year of high school and things are already ten times harder than they were back in middle school.”

“Harder in some ways, easier in others,” Olette said. “Middle school got us used to the kind of environment we’re in now, but the work is harder now.”

“I wish they’d give us a break once in a while,” Hayner said. “Even just an extra half hour in the middle of the day to chill out.”

“Isn’t that what lunch is for?” Pence asked.

“No. Have to focus on eating and getting ready for the next class. It’s not a moment to rest.”

“Then do you mean like recess?” Olette asked.

Hayner looked embarrassed. “When you put it that way, it does sound pretty stupid, doesn’t it?”

“Not really,” Olette said. “We wouldn’t have to play games or anything unless we wanted to. It could just be hanging out time.”

Hayner sighed. “I just wish summer vacation was longer. There’s so much we didn’t get done!”

Naminé smiled. Hayner was a person who liked to do exactly what he wanted when he wanted to do it. School removed that freedom, so she understood that it would be difficult for him to deal with. Still, she found his juvenile attitude amusing at times, but she understood where it came from. She longed to have the memories of a childhood of her own, and she knew he was missing his.

She was lucky with these friends; they had very little connection to Kairi, so it was easy to overlook their memories, their thoughts, and their feelings. She was thankful that she got to experience their friendship in a normal form, not in a way that she was manipulating. In the other timeline, she had done nothing but manipulate.

Though, wasn’t that what she was doing with everything else in her life outside of this friendship? Removing traces of an entire timeline. Doing her best to alter the actions of two other individuals. Wasn’t that wrong?

No, this was the world at stake now. She was doing it for the right reasons. It was worth it. Besides, she shouldn’t be feeling so guilty; she was a Nobody after all. But then again, if that was the case, why did she care so much about these friends she had made? It made no sense, but she knew it didn’t have to. It was true.

“Naminé?” Olette said.

“Hmm?”

“Just wanted to make sure you were okay. You spaced out for a sec.”

“I’m fine. Sorry I worried you.” Naminé stared out at the sunset once more. This time, this place, this moment… if she could have more like it, it was definitely worth the cost.

But… was it really fair that the cost wasn’t her own?


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

(Aqua)

“Mickey…we closed the door. Now what?” Aqua looked around the Dark World. They had contained most of the Heartless that had tried to pass through the door that was now closed…but that door had been their one way out, right?”

Mickey put his hand to his chin. “Hmm…I don’t really know for sure…”

Aqua looked around. “I’ve been trapped here so long…what’s a while longer?”

“You’ve been trapped here long enough!” Mickey argued. “We’ll get out of here soon, I promise.”

Aqua shook her head and crouched down to Mickey’s height. “Mickey…I need to go to Ven. He’s been waiting for so long…”

“Don’t worry, Aqua! You know where he is, don’t you?”

“I do.” She nodded. “He’s in what once was the Land of Departure, sealed safely inside a maze that no one can solve but me.”

“So, let’s find the Land of Departure!”

Aqua shook her head. “So many worlds have fallen to darkness…what if it has too?”

“Well, the worlds should’ve all gone back now that that door is sealed.”

“That’s good.” Aqua stood up and looked around. “But, how can we find it?”

“May your heart be your guiding key…” Mickey said under his breath.

“That’s right,” Aqua said with a nod. “That’s what I’ve thought, all this time, but…still, I wander here.”

“Your heart led you to me!” Mickey said. “It’ll show you the way to Ven, too.”

Aqua closed her eyes. “It will lead me to Ven…” _Ven,_ she called out in her heart, _help me find you, please…_

But instead of seeing Ven in the room where she had left him, she saw a familiar face…a grown-up version of Sora, the boy she had met on the Destiny Islands and considered giving a Keyblade before deciding one was enough for a friendship. She opened her eyes, startled. “When I call for Ven…it’s not him I see.”

“Huh?”

Aqua shook her head. “We need to find him…but I don’t think his heart ever returned. It’s elsewhere…”

“Hmm…” Mickey tilted his head. “I guess we’ll have to find it, too!”

“Sora.”

“Sora?”

“It’s with Sora.”

“I feel like I should know that name, but…”

(Sora)

Sora insisted to anyone that would listen that Riku and Kairi had not become heartless like the other missing residents of the Destiny Islands. However, no one would listen, and everyone was focusing on rebuilding the lives that had been temporarily thrown off path. Sora didn’t want any part of it. He wanted to find Riku and Kairi! They were still out there, and they would need help. Sora didn’t know who Xehanort was, nor what Solace meant when he said he had changed the timeline. What Sora did know was that Riku and Kairi were not dead.

He had no way to go out to other worlds and search for them. He didn’t have a gummi ship, nor a Keyblade. The moogles had magicked his sword to disappear and reappear at will, allowing him to keep it with him and hidden from his mother and other islanders. If he could find a way to get out there, he could safely search for them.

He hated that Solace had sent him away like some kind of tool in his plan. There had to be some way to get out there and search. There must be some key, some loophole, something!

Sora stood on the little island, staring out at the ocean. He remembered how back before that fateful night, he, Riku, and Kairi had every intention of setting sail on a raft in hopes of making it to a new world. That was frivolous; he knew now that to travel between worlds one needed something far more substantial than a raft. But he had nothing.

He heard a noise behind him, like the flapping of massive wings on the largest seagull he had ever encountered; however, when he turned around, there stood the person who had caused this entire problem, wings affixed to him back.

“Solace.” Sora scowled and summoned his sword.

“Now, now, there’s no reason to fight,” Solace said. “I’m here to help you.”

“Help me?” Sora asked. “You’re the reason I’m here, not back with Riku and Kairi!”

“On the contrary, I merely let fate take its course,” Solace said. “Everyone who lost their homes were returned to their newly revived worlds. The same happened with you.”

“What?”

“All of your fellow islanders are here, are they not?”

“Well, yes…”

“But obviously they weren’t before. Your world was gone, so they were elsewhere.” Solace shook his head. “You held no purpose outside of your world, lacking a Keyblade. So, the worlds sent you home.”

“That… makes sense,” Sora admitted, relaxing his stance but not sending away his sword. “But if you let fate take its course and send me home, then why are you here?”

“Simple; I’ve changed my mind.” Solace walked forward. “You see, it was cruel of me to send you away from your friends knowing that it would be a very long time before they returned to you. You could help them, after all.”

“But you caused this mess! You’re why I don’t have a Keyblade.” Sora shook his head. “I have no reason to trust you.”

“That is very true,” Solace said. “However, I assure you that there is no reason to distrust me, either.” Solace shook his head. “You see, I protected you when you were unconscious, kept you safe from the forces of darkness that could have overcome you until the moment was right. Without me, you very well might not be standing where you are right now.”

“What?”

“I’ve always been fond of you and your story. It reminds me of someone,” Solace said. “You’re so ordinary, yet you changed so many people’s fate in the other timeline. You defied logic; and here, you do the same.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sora said.

“Of course you don’t.” Solace looked over Sora’s shoulder and out at the ocean. “You see, Sora, you are not pure of heart. When your heart went to Kairi, you should have become Heartless and Nobody.”

“…Yeah. I know that.”

“Good. Then you must also know, that you stayed for a reason.”

“Huh?”

“No?” Solace looked back at him. “Your heart—it guided Kairi. If you had faded away, you couldn’t have. Your body—held someone else, someone in a deep slumber as you were.” Solace shook his head. “Without them, you would have faded, just like anyone else.”

Sora stared at Solace in disbelief. “You mean—”

“You’re an anomaly, Sora. Too important to the worlds to fade just yet. But your time will come.” Solace shook his head. “In the meantime, who am I to stop what you want to do with what remains?”

Sora paused. “I want to help Riku and Kairi.”

Solace nodded. “Then it will be so.”

“What?”

“I will help you.”

“You’ll help me?” Sora asked slowly. “But you’re the one who sent me away in the first place.”

“I changed my mind.” Solace shook his head. “I will let fate take its course.” Sora stared. “Now, I’m not going to deliver you to them. It’s up to you to find them wherever they might wander,” Solace said. “But, I can teach you the means.”

“Teach me the means?” Sora asked warily.

“Portals of light are much safer than portals of darkness that you might learn from others,” Solace said, “and you hold enough light in your heart to create them.”

“Portals of light… like you travel through?”

“Correct,” Solace said. “A simple lesson, and then you’ll be on your way.”

“Why are you helping me?” Sora asked.

“You’re fascinating.” Solace shook his head. “Shall we begin?”

Solace taught Sora the skill. It was a simple enough task.

“Very good,” Solace praised. “You’re a quick learner.”

“Thanks, I think?”

“Now, as you don’t know where to go, it might be difficult for you to find your way around,” Solace said. “However, portals of light will never take you somewhere unsafe unless you will it. They will always take you where you belong.”

“That’s… good?”

Solace smiled. “You have learned well. Now, I must go. Best of luck in your travels,” Solace said. He created a portal of light and walked through it, closing it behind him.

Sora stared where he had gone for a moment before turning his attention forward. “Okay, then. Let’s make this portal.”

Sora created the portal of light and stepped through it, wondering where it would lead him.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

(Kairi)

Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy were settled into the cockpit of the gummi ship, preparing to set out. “So, the problems here weren’t caused by Organization XIII,” Kairi said. “We have to find somewhere where they are, so we can investigate them.”

Riku shook his head. “So, we’re looking for trouble now?” he asked.

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Goofy said. “We need to find Sora and the king.”

Donald rolled his eyes. “But Master Yen Sid said—"

“Does it really matter what he said?” Riku asked. “Is this Organization really causing as much trouble as he made it sound?”

Kairi paused. Maybe Goofy and Riku were right. “Well… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to focus on finding our friends,” she said. “I’d love to, personally. But I thought this Organization was endangering the worlds, and that was why Master Yen Sid even bothered to bring them to our attention.”

“The King is fine,” Donald said, “and for all we know, Sora’s back safe at home.”

“What does it hurt to check?” Riku asked. “Besides, Master Yen Sid couldn’t even tell us much about this Organization.”

“He said they didn’t have hearts, like the Heartless!” Donald said. “Isn’t that enough to know they’re dangerous?”

“Well…” Kairi shook her head. “They look like people. Is he really so sure that these Nobodies lack the things a heart would give them?”

“He did say they didn’t have emotions, but what does he know?” Riku said. “And even if they do, he couldn’t tell us what they were doing wrong, just that it was dangerous.”

“Are you saying you don’t believe Master Yen Sid?” Donald said, baffled.

“I think that’s the assessment,” Kairi said.

“Gawrsh, I didn’t mean that,” Goofy said. “All I meant was that we don’t know much.”

Riku sighed. “If I know what they were doing that was so awful, I’d be all for focusing time on finding them and stopping them… But Yen Sid didn’t tell us anything, and he didn’t even tell us to find out what it is they are doing.”

Donald crossed his arms and sat down moodily. “I think we should listen to Master Yen Sid.”

“Why?” Kairi asked.

“Because he’s a Master, and he knows what’s going on while we don’t.” Donald shook his head. “He knows that Organization XIII is trying to form Kingdom Hearts, and that’s a bad thing. We need to stop that from happening at all costs.”

“We don’t even know what it is, or why they’re forming it,” Kairi said. “We don’t exactly have much to go on.”

“Well we need to look for them anyway,” Donald said. “It doesn’t matter why; Master Yen Sid said it was nothing good. That’s all we need to know.”

Kairi crossed her arms. She was taking a moment to think. She hated to admit it, but, “Donald’s right.”

“What?” Riku said.

“Of course I am!” Donald said.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Kairi said. She looked at Riku. “Master Yen Sid’s the only thing we have to go on other than Solace’s warning about Xehanort, and out of the two of them, I trust Yen Sid more.”

“Yes, but—”

“So, we keep looking for Sora and the King, but in the meantime, we keep looking for signs of the Organization. There’s got to be something somewhere that can make sense of this.” Kairi paused. “Hmm… I wonder if that Axel guy hangs out in Twilight Town often?”

“No time to backtrack,” Donald said. “He didn’t seem to be causing any trouble.”

“How do you know? He just left out of nowhere!” Kairi sighed. “But we really should keep moving forward. We’re probably not going to find Sora or the King back in Twilight Town.”

“We know the King is safe. He can take care of himself,” Goofy said. “And I think Sora can, too, if it comes down to it.”

“Hopefully they wouldn’t take away that sword the Moogles made him,” Riku said. “All right. We’ll do it your way, Kairi. Like we always do.”

Donald puffed up. “Hey! It was my idea!”

“Riku… I’m not trying to—”

“It’s fine. I think you have the clearest head out of all of us.” Riku smirked. “Now then, let’s get out of here and figure out where we’re going.”

 

A world appeared in the distance. Kairi looked down at it and sighed. They would finally land. It had been a long ride in the Gummi Ship this time around, and she was ready to have her feet on the ground again.

The world was forested, but there appeared to be some kind of palace visible as well. Kairi wondered what kind of world this might be. She had been to so many, all unique. She had yet to find one where she couldn’t handle whatever was thrown at her.

Even Atlantica had been conquerable. She wondered if she’d ever see that world again. This was not Atlantica, nor any world that she had seen before. Whenever she saw a new world, she wondered what she might see. Though she was tired of traveling and really wanted to go home, some small part of her still enjoyed traveling and seeing all the worlds outside of her own.

“Well, here we are,” Donald said, pulling the ship into position.

Riku looked up. “This place looks interesting.”

“I wonder if Sora is here,” Kairi pondered.

“Who knows?” Donald said dully. “Let’s just land so we can look.”

“Right,” Kairi said with a nod.

They left the ship above and descended into the forest below. Rather than trees, the foliage seemed to be bamboo stalks. It seemed that they were near a house, so Kairi was cautious. “We need to be careful,” she said. “People won’t be expecting strangers anymore.”

“Since when do you care about the world order?” Riku asked with a laugh.

“Hey!” Kairi protested. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Relax. As long as we don’t say we’re from somewhere else, no one is going to know.”

“I agree with Kairi,” Donald said.

“If Kairi and Donald are agreeing, they must be right,” Goofy said. “That never happens.”

Kairi and Donald looked at each other, frowning, before looking away. “Whatever,” Kairi said. “Let’s get moving.”

As they started to walk away, rushed footsteps came from behind them. Kairi turned to look. Through the trees came a young woman clad in hanfu dress, fleeing something. Kairi spotted them; Heartless were chasing her. Kairi summoned her Keyblade. “Guys; look!” she called to her friends.

Riku summoned his Keyblade and Donald and Goofy their shields.

“Miss—get behind us,” Kairi called to the young woman.

The girl looked at them before running behind them and stopping. “But you’re—”

Kairi attacked the Heartless, keeping them away from the unarmed stranger. The battle was short lived as she and the others quickly demolished the enemies.

“Are you all right?” Kairi asked, turning to the girl.

“I’m fine,” she said. “You are… all quite the fighters.” It was clear that she had started to say something else but had changed her mind.

“Yeah, well, we’ve had some practice,” Kairi said.

“What were those monsters?”

Riku spoke up, “They’re called Heartless. They’re very dangerous. You should avoid them at all costs.”

“Heartless…” The girl looked away. “They came when Shan Yu first began attacking the country.”

Riku and Kairi looked at each other. Kairi paused. In Maleficent’s absence, were other people using the Heartless for their own gain?

“Are there many of them?” Kairi asked.

She nodded. “They’re all around.”

Kairi turned to the others. “Do you think there’s anything we can do?”

“Master Yen Sid didn’t mention there being any way to hinder the Heartless,” Donald said.

“Yeah. The worlds are supposed to be safe,” Goofy said.

Kairi looked back at the girl. “I’m Kairi; and this is Riku, Donald, and Goofy.”

“Fa Mulan,” Mulan said.

“Don’t worry, Mulan; we’re going to see if there’s anything we can do to help!” Kairi said.

“But…” She tilted her head. “You’re a girl, and you’re going to fight?” She seemed puzzled.

“Of course I am!” Kairi said. “I’m able to fight the Heartless, so I do.”

“But, what would your family think?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it be a dishonor?”

Now Kairi was baffled. “Why would it be? I think they’d be proud of me.”

“But—”

“We should go,” Donald said, grabbing Kairi’s arm.

Kairi looked down at him. He looked worried.

“Ah! Right,” she said. “Lots of Heartless to fight.” She looked around. “Do you think you can get home safely?”

“I’m not sure…” Mulan said.

Riku stepped forward. “I’ll take you as far as the edge of the forest. Is your home nearby?”

“Yes, just beyond the edge.”

“Why don’t you guys wait here for me?” Riku said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Right…” Kairi said. “Be careful!”

“Always am,” Riku said with a grin. He and Mulan headed off.

“What was with her?” Kairi asked as soon as they were beyond sight.

Donald shook his head. “I have no idea; but we need to be careful of you fighting if it’s something unusual.”

“I’m not just going to sit back and let you guys do everything!” Kairi protested.

“That’s not what I said! I said we need to be careful. We can’t let anyone see.”

“But why?”

“World border, right?” Goofy said.

“Order!” Donald snapped.

Kairi stared at Donald blankly. “You mean the thought of a girl fighting could be enough to mess up the world order?”

“It could be,” Donald said. “She seemed quite bothered by it. I’m sure she’s not alone.”

“But…” Kairi looked back at where Riku and Mulan had gone. “Is it really so strange as to be a dishonor?”

“It does strike me as a little odd,” Goofy said, “but I guess some worlds must be like that.”

(Riku)

“Kairi is a fighter?” Mulan asked.

“Yeah. She is,” Riku said. He never would have imagined she would be, back before this journey began, but now that they had been traveling together, Riku thought it would be far stranger if she stopped fighting now.

“But she’s…”

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Riku said. “It’s her business.”

“But her family—”

“Her family doesn’t know, and there’s no way that they’re going to find out.”

“I… I see,” Mulan said. She looked around. “You know of the monsters, then?”

Riku was wary. It seemed that they were doomed to hide that they were outsiders from Mulan at least. “Listen, Mulan; can you do me a favor and not tell anyone that you saw us?”

She studied him. “Of course! Assuming you’re not with the Huns.”

“We aren’t,” Riku assured. “I can’t say where we’re from or how we know about the Heartless, but I can tell you that we know what we’re doing against them.”

Mulan nodded. “Your secret is safe with me, on my honor.”

“Thank you, Mulan.” Riku kept walking. This was dangerous. Kairi was right that they needed to be cautious in this world. Riku hadn’t really been that concerned before, but now it seemed that the worlds were truly separate again. Riku had to wonder how long they could hide in plain sight like this.

“We are here,” Mulan said. “My house is right over there.”

“Right. Be careful,” Riku said.

“Thank you, Riku,” Mulan said with a slight bow.

“Anytime.”

Mulan turned to face her house. “I’m going to be in big trouble. I’m running late.”

“You’d better hurry then!” Riku waved her on. “Remember, don’t—”

“Your secret is safe,” Mulan repeated as she rushed toward the house.

Riku shook his head and headed back into the forest. “Man oh man, what if everyone around here is like her? How are we going to keep Kairi safe?”

He knew that there was no way they could stop Kairi from fighting. It wouldn’t be wise, anyway; they were all used to fighting together, and Riku knew he wasn’t used to spending his energy protecting someone else, at least not without Kairi’s help. Though Riku didn’t know what he was supposed to do, he couldn’t help but be worried. What if there were a lot of people around? Was it even safe to search this world?

He needed to talk to Kairi, Donald, and Goofy to find out what their next step was. They needed to look for Sora and signs of the Organization. That shouldn’t be too difficult.

(Kairi)

Riku returned from beyond the trees. Kairi smiled as he approached. “Get Mulan home safe?”

“Yeah. No problem at all,” Riku said. “She promised not to tell that she saw us, so we can hope she keeps her word.”

“Great!” Kairi said. “Now then, what are we going to do? If there are a lot of Heartless, and we don’t know what has brought them here, there’s not much we can do about them. Should we just look for Sora and the King?”

“Probably,” Riku said.

Donald nodded. “We need to get out of here as quickly as we can. It seems that there’s no way we won’t stand out around here.”

“It’s a wonder we ever do,” Kairi said. “We always look so different from everyone else.”

Goofy put his hand to his chin. “Say fellas; don’t you think it’s odd that there are Heartless around here that only showed up recently? I thought that closing that door was supposed to stop more from coming.”

“You’re right,” Kairi said. She tilted her head. “If they arrived with this Shan Yu, maybe they were already with him, just not in this part of the world?”

Donald tapped his foot impatiently. “Who knows? Why does it matter?”

“If Heartless are showing up in places where they never were, there’s a problem,” Kairi said. “Yen Sid said that closing that door had lessened their numbers. Do we still need to be sealing Keyholes? I thought sealing the door handled that.”

“Maybe after we look around here, it would be a good idea to go back and talk to Master Yen Sid,” Goofy said.

Riku nodded. “He might be able to explain more of what’s going on.”

“In the meantime, we need to look for Sora and the King. We should’ve asked Mulan if she had seen anyone new,” Kairi said.

Donald shook his head. “She was too curious about you fighting. Asking a question would’ve made us stand out as outsiders even more.”

“And that’s the last thing we want,” Goofy agreed.

Kairi sighed. “So, no fighting in public for me,” she said.

“Sorry Kairi,” Riku said.

“That’s okay. I’ll manage, unless you guys are in danger.”

“Don’t worry, Kairi,” Goofy said, “we can take care of each other.”

“I know that. It’s just…”

“I get it,” Riku said. “Let’s get going.”

“Right…”


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

(Kairi)

Kairi led the way down the path through the forest. Along the way, they fought many more Heartless.

“How are we supposed to know if Sora and the King are here if we can’t ask people if they’ve seen them?” Goofy asked.

“Goofy’s got a point,” Kairi said. “I know we have to be careful about the world order, but just looking around blindly without saying anything to anyone isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

“So you want to just ask random residents if they’ve seen anyone or anything strange?” Donald asked. “That’s dangerous!”

“That’s exactly what we need to do,” Kairi said. “Look, who knows what had happened to this world. It’s possible that they know all about the other worlds!”

“We could find out if anyone has seen the Organization around here, too,” Riku added. “We just have to be careful. I think it’s probably better to read the scene and find out how people will react before we speak, but not avoid speaking at all.” Riku paused. “But here, maybe it would be better for me to do the talking.”

“What? Why?” Donald asked.

“Well, you know why not Kairi,” Riku began, “and you and Goofy stand out a bit more than I do.”

Kairi crossed her arms. Riku was right. They needed to be careful, and while Riku didn’t seem to fit with the general population, at least he was human and not a girl.

“Do you think they won’t listen to me at all?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Riku said.

“No one’s ever questioned us before,” Donald said, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Riku’s right,” Goofy said. “We don’t exactly look like everyone else. Don’t you remember how odd it was when we first left Disney Castle to meet all sorts of people who looked nothing like us? And we knew what we were getting into.”

“What? I don’t remember that,” Donald said.

Kairi leaned over to look at Donald. “Come on, Donald; the way Aerith first described the two of you to me was as ‘strange looking.’”

“Oh,” Donald sighed. “Well, okay. But wouldn’t we cover more ground if we all asked around?”

“That’s true,” Riku said.

Kairi tilted her head. “Say, why don’t we have Riku talk to anyone who looks ‘official’ and the rest of us can spread out?”

“What do you mean?” Donald asked.

“Well, someone official could spread word faster, so we need to be more careful with them; but the rest of the people stick enough to the status quo that we might not stand out at all.”

“Doubt it,” Riku said. “You know, I never thought so much about this back on any other world. This world is so bizarre, and it feels unsafe to be here as an outsider.”

“I don’t know about unsafe,” Goofy said.

“Maybe not for you, me, or Donald…” Riku began.

Kairi groaned. “That’s what this is about? Me being standing out, since I’m a fighter and am dressed nothing like anyone here?”

“Well… yeah,” Riku admitted.

“Well, don’t worry so much about it! I’m here, I’m not going to hide in the shadows, and I can get out of trouble if I get into it.”

“Still…”

“Don’t worry so much about Kairi,” Goofy said. “You know she can take care of herself.”

Riku paused. “I’m sorry, Kairi; for some reason my mind just keeps going back to how things were on the islands; when it was always me and Sora protecting you. I guess I forget sometimes that you can keep yourself safe these days.”

Kairi crossed her arms. “Riku…”

“I know it’s not okay.” He shook his head. “Just… let me worry this time, okay?”

“Riku, you don’t need to worry, so I’m not going to let you fret over it,” she said. “You know I’m okay on my own, and you won’t be far away if I need you. I was doing just fine before you found me again.”

“I know that…” Riku looked away.

Kairi studied him. She couldn’t understand why he still felt that way. She didn’t need protecting; not from him, not from Sora… though she supposed she did have Sora with her before and she didn’t now. She didn’t need anyone to worry about her though; even without Sora with her, she could stay safe.

But that didn’t change the fact that Riku was still so worried about it. It worried her; was it just because she was a girl? He wouldn’t worry this much about Sora, would he? Sure, he and Sora had always sparred and he had known from the start that Sora could take care of himself, but now the tides had turned, and Kairi was the one who knew how to fight and had a Keyblade and Sora was the one without experience and only a Moogle made sword if he happened to be outside of the Destiny Islands.

She should appreciate it rather than be offended. She had back in Atlantica when she was so vulnerable. But here it was just annoying, now that she had defended herself so well before. She wouldn’t be without him and the others for long. She knew she needed them in the end. But… she didn’t need to hide behind him anymore, and she hadn’t for a long time.

Riku looked ashamed. “Riku…” Kairi began. “I don’t understand why you’re so worried, but as long as it isn’t just because I’m a girl, it’s okay.”

“What? Of course it isn’t!” Riku said. “I’ve seen you fight and get through so many obstacles. It’s just that here you’ll stand out. So, I guess, in a way it is because you’re a girl, but not in the way you meant.”

Kairi took a moment to consider his words. It made sense. “All right,” Kairi said. “But don’t worry so much about me. Worry about finding Sora!”

“Of course,” Riku said.

“Come on, fellas,” Goofy said. “I see some kind of camp up ahead.”

“Oh boy!” Donald said. “I was worried we wouldn’t find anything for a while with this forest.”

“It looks like an army camp from the flag,” Riku said. He looked at the others. “Okay. So we look around a bit and ask about Sora and the King.”

“Since when are you the leader?” Kairi teased.

“I—”

“Okay, let’s head out.”

Entering the camp, they headed their separate ways. Riku walked toward a man at the front of the camp who seemed to be overseeing everyone else. Donald and Goofy headed to the left and right, so Kairi looked for the nearest person in the center.

“Excuse me,” she said to a short and stout man with a bruised eye.

“Hmm? What’s a girl doing here?” he asked.

“Oh. I, um…” She composed herself. “I’m looking for a couple of people and was wondering if you might have seen them.”

“Oh, you’re lost?”

“No, they’re the ones who are lost,” she said. She shook her head. “Has anyone introduced themselves to you as Sora, or Mickey? Sora is around my age with brown spiky hair, and Mickey is…”

“I haven’t seen anyone different until you and those people you came in with. Sorry,” he said. “I’d suggest you get out of here soon. General Shang isn’t going to like seeing a girl here in camp.”

Kairi swallowed her temper. She didn’t need to make a scene. “Oh. Thank you anyway,” She said, turning to walk toward the next nearest man.

She received similarly unfriendly reception from the others, though most seemed more curious than angry. After finishing talking to those nearby, she headed toward the edge of camp in defeat.

Donald and Goofy followed quickly, shaking their heads. “No luck?” Donald asked her, knowing the answer.

“No,” Kairi said.

“Same here,” Goofy said, “but they did say they’ve been seeing lots of Heartless.”

Riku rushed over. “No leads on Sora or the King, but the general did say that they could use some help with the Heartless.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Kairi said. “They wanted me to get out of here.”

“True…” Riku said, “but they might be able to help us get where we can ask more people.”

“I don’t think they’d let me come along…” Kairi said. “You were right, Riku.”

“I did mention you to the general. He asked if you could stay behind… said it would be a dishonor and burden to have a girl along,” Riku said.

“That jerk!” Donald said. “I ought to give him a piece of my mind!”

Kairi puffed out her cheeks in frustration. “Come on, guys; you wouldn’t do that…” She studied Riku. “Would you?”

“No! Of course not, if you don’t like the idea,” Riku said. “I just figured, since you can defend yourself, it’d give us a chance to check more places… But if you don’t want to, we don’t have to.”

Donald and Goofy looked at each other for a minute.

Kairi looked down at her feet. It was like a dare. _Prove to me you can take care of yourself_ , he seemed to say. _I dare you to let me leave you behind. To believe I’ll be back._

Kairi took a deep breath. “All right. You can go.”

Goofy cleared his throat. “Say Kairi, why don’t I stay here with you and Riku and Donald go off and look around?”

Kairi looked at Goofy and smiled. She couldn’t turn down a dare. “I’ll be fine, Goofy; go on and help them.”

“Well, if you’re sure…” Goofy turned to Riku. “When are we going?”

“Whenever we’re ready,” Riku said. “Oh, but one more thing,” he began, “I said we’d take you back to town. So, you’ll need to go into the woods until we’re gone.”

“All right. No big deal,” Kairi said.

“Say Kairi,” Goofy said again, “I know that you can take care of yourself, but you haven’t been alone for a long time, and this world is more dangerous than others. Why don’t you let me stay with you?”

“I’ll be fine, Goofy,” she repeated; but she wasn’t annoyed by his persistence; rather, she was comforted.

“I know you’d be fine on your own, but I know that I wouldn’t want to be all by myself.” Goofy looked worried.

Kairi paused to contemplate what she should do. She wanted to take Riku’s unsaid dare and prove herself, but on the other hand, she hated being left behind. She hated being alone. She knew she could take care of herself, but if felt unsafe. She didn’t know what she’d do if she was suddenly without her friends.

Kairi smiled. “Okay, Goofy. If you want to stay with me, you can.”

“That’d be alright, won’t it fellas?” Goofy asked Riku and Donald.

Donald nodded and looked relieved. “That’s perfectly fine.”

Riku looked thankful too. That stung a bit. “Right. We can handle it.”

“Can you two get along for that long?” Kairi teased.

“Of course we can,” Donald said. He didn’t even sound annoyed when he said it.

“We’ll head out, then,” Riku said. “You two stay safe.”

“Same for you!” Kairi called as they walked back into camp.

Goofy put a hand on her shoulder. “I know you wanted to prove Riku wrong.”

“I did,” Kairi said. “But the thought of being alone… it terrifies me.” She shook her head. “When Maleficent kidnapped me and took me to Hollow Bastion… when I had to get out on my own… I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was so scared…” She sighed. “I don’t want to go through that again.”

“You always knew we’d find you, didn’t you?” Goofy asked, worried.

Kairi smiled and nodded. “I did. I didn’t know how you’d all find out where I was or how you’d get to me, but I knew you would eventually.”

“I promise that even if you are alone, I’ll always come to find you. And I know Donald and Riku would too!” Goofy looked back toward the camp. The others had already headed out. “But gawrsh, they certainly didn’t wait around.”

“They knew we’d be safe,” Kairi said, looking at where they had gone. “Now, we just have to wait.”


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 (Riku)

He’d messed up. Again. He always did, when it came to Kairi. He tried so hard to protect her that he tended to forget that she didn’t need as much protecting as she used to. He always had protected them; her and Sora. Sure, Sora was the first, but Sora had always shown that he could fight almost as well as Riku. Kairi… it was hard not to look at her and see the girl who had started to refuse to fight because she wasn’t as strong as everyone else.

After all this time, it was still the same. He had seen her fight, seen her take care of herself better than he ever could’ve imagined. Sometimes he thought she might be a better fighter than he was. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to stop wanting to protect her. And the more time passed, the more independent she became, and with that, her patience for his fussing lessened.

Sora had always liked Kairi, in that kind of way. Riku could see it in his eyes. And Kairi doted on him, too. Riku should’ve left them alone to be together, but he didn’t want to lose them. Instead, he was stuck as the awkward third wheel, never knowing what to do. So he had started trying to push Sora away, tried to push them together. Telling Sora that the winner of the race could share a paopu with Kairi. And part of him had wanted that.

Yes, Riku had to admit that he was jealous of Kairi and Sora; but they deserved each other, not a burden like Riku. He could never compete with Sora. It was terrible! He had been so scared he had been replaced when he found her with Donald and Goofy. And since they were together, it had always been that they needed to find Sora too.

Riku couldn’t protect her. He never could. And at this rate, he was even less likely to ever earn that place in her heart that Sora held. If he couldn’t accept her independence, he didn’t deserve it, anyway.

“Riku; keep up!” Donald snapped, dragging Riku back to reality.

“Sorry,” he muttered, speeding up to catch up with the rest of the group.

They didn’t encounter many Heartless on their way up the mountain, and those they did fell easily under the army’s control. It was clear that he and Donald were just along for the ride.

“What’s wrong, Riku?” Donald asked. “You’ve been quiet.”

“Nothing,” Riku said. “I’m just… tired is all.”

“Are you sure you aren’t upset about arguing with Kairi?” Donald asked.

Riku flinched. “That obvious, huh?”

“You two are great friends, and friends have disagreements sometimes,” Donald said.

“Not me and Kairi; me and Sora, sure, but not Kairi.” Riku shook his head.

“Maybe that means that you’re getting closer?” Donald said. “You’re comfortable enough to know that even if you say something wrong you’ll be forgiven.”

“Doubt it,” Riku said. “I just need to accept that Kairi doesn’t need my help anymore.”

“Of course Kairi needs you!” Donald said. “She can keep herself safe, but she’ll never stop needing her friends.”

Riku studied Donald. “You think so?”

Donald nodded. “Long ago, the King didn’t fight. It was up to me and Goofy to take care of Disney Castle; but then he got his Keyblade and learned to defend himself and his world and the worlds beyond. But he never stopped needing us to be there for him, even now.”

“Really?” Riku took a moment to ponder that. He had to admit that Donald and Goofy had years more experience with the way things worked than he and Kairi did, though he wasn’t really sure just how much.

“I mean it,” Donald said. “Kairi and Sora will always need you to be there for them.”

“Thanks, Donald,” Riku said.

“Now, cheer up and focus! We’re almost to the village!”

 

(Kairi)

It was starting to get dark, and Kairi was starting to get worried. “Hey Goofy, when do you think they’ll be back?”

“Gawrsh, Kairi, I don’t know,” he said. “They didn’t say how far they were going to go.”

“Hmm…” Kairi tilted her head. “I wonder what’s taking them so long.”

“Maybe they found something out and are looking for them.”

“I don’t know.” Kairi looked around the area. “Maybe we should start a fire.”

“That’s a good idea!” Goofy said. “I’ll go gather some firewood.”

“Let’s go together,” Kairi said. “It’s getting dark, and without a fire, we won’t be able to see what’s out there.”

“Alright,” Goofy said. “Let’s go.”

After wood was gathered and a fire started using Kairi’s magic, they settled in.

“It’s so strange not to be sleeping in the Gummi Ship,” Kairi said.

“If it comes time to sleep, we’ll go up to it,” Goofy said. “In the meantime, we should wait and see if Donald and Riku come back.”

“Right.” Kairi sighed. “You know, we don’t talk much alone.”

“Nope. Always been with Donald around.” Goofy put his hand to his chin. “We’ve been together an awful long time now. Donald and I didn’t used to get along so well.”

“Sometimes he really seems to bully you.”

“I don’t mind. That’s just how Donald’s always been.” Goofy stared at the fire. “I know I can always count on him, though, no matter what happens.”

“That’s good.” Kairi paused. “So, how long have you been friends?”

“Always,” Goofy said.

“Always?”

“I can’t remember a time when we weren’t friends—but I do have an awful hard time remembering things sometimes.”

“I see.” Kairi looked at the fire. “Me, Riku, and Sora have been friends since we were little. I don’t remember much before I met them.”

“It’s always good to have long time friends. They’re the ones you know will be there no matter what.”

“I feel like you and Donald would be there now that I know you,” Kairi said, looking up at the sky. “You were always there for me when I needed it most, even when Riku and Sora couldn’t be.”

“Anytime. You’re a great friend too, you know.”

“I sure hope so.”

“You are. Sure, you and Donald fight sometimes, but you’re the one who keeps this adventure together. Without you, we’d never have met Riku.”

“And I never would’ve found him without you.” Kairi shook her head. “You know, Goofy, you said I keep us together, but I really think you do more than you think you do. You’ve always had a level head, and when you can, you keep the rest of us from making rash decisions.”

“I don’t know about that,” Goofy said. “I just don’t like fighting, and I don’t want anything to go wrong.”

“Even if that’s your reasoning, it holds us in place. If it was just me and Donald, we would’ve ditched each other ages ago.”

“Now, I don’t think Donald would leave you behind that easy, and I don’t think you’d leave him behind, either.”

“Not now. But back when we first met… Who knows? I guess he would’ve stuck around because the Keyblade…” She looked down. “That’s how this all started, though; the Keyblade.”

“Maybe that’s how it started, but it has nothing to do with it now,” Goofy said. “Listen, Kairi; no matter what happens, we aren’t going to leave you behind.”

“Thanks, Goofy.”

“Say Kairi, you ever think that you’re forgetting something?” he asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?” Kairi asked.

“You know, I’m not quite sure,” he said. “I remember meeting your friend Sora, but it used to feel like I knew him too,” he said. “Now he feels like a stranger all over again.”

“What?” Kairi asked. She scanned her thoughts. He seemed the same in her memories; the same Sora from the islands, the same one who protected her heart for so long, the same one who had been taken away and that they were looking for. “No… not really,” she said.

“Oh. Guess it’s just me.”

“Why don’t you ask Donald when he gets back?” Kairi asked. “There’s no way that me or Riku would ever forget anything about him. Remember what that Solace guy said about the timeline?”

“Oh yeah! I forgot about that,” he said. “I guess I’m missing out a little lately.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “As long as you remember now, it doesn’t matter.”

“I don’t want to forget all about Sora, either,” Goofy said. “It felt like he was my friend, too. I don’t want to forget about my friends.”

Kairi frowned. “Goofy…” She shook her head. “It could be something Solace is doing. Don’t worry too much about it right now. We can’t do anything.”

“If you say so…”

There was a long moment of silence between them. Though the subject had been uncomfortable, the silence was not. Silence between two friends was as joyful as conversation. If only they hadn’t been searching for Sora and the King, it might have been enjoyable.

Goofy looked at the fire. “Looks like we’ve about burned through that wood,” he said. “I’ll go get some more. You’d better stay here this time, so that the fire doesn’t spread.”

“All right. I’ll be right here,” Kairi agreed.

Goofy headed into the brush to gather more wood, and Kairi took a moment to contemplate their conversation. Goofy was a good friend.

“Kairi, run!” Goofy called from the forest. “It’s Solace!”

Kairi leapt to her feet, but instead of running away, she ran toward the sound of his voice. “Goofy!” she cried as she saw him, Solace holding a knife to his throat. “Let him go!”

“Now Kairi, we’re going to play a game of hide and seek,” Solace said. He stared blankly at her.

“What?” Kairi hissed.

“Here are the rules: I’ll take Goofy here somewhere in this world, and it’s up to you to find him. You will have three hours. He will be within that range.” Solace had no expression. “Until then, I will keep him safe. After those three hours, he’ll be free game for the Heartless.”

 “Kairi, don’t listen to him; wait for Donald and Riku.” Goofy smiled. “I can fight some Heartless.”

“Not with your hands tied up, and without your shield,” Solace said. “If I were you, I wouldn’t do any waiting.”

“Why are you doing this?” Kairi wailed.

“Because it’s fun,” Solace said, finally grinning. “And oh how long it has been since I had any fun.”

“I thought the timeline switch was your fun!”

“Oh, that was just the beginning.” Solace laughed. “Don’t worry. No harm will come to your friend as long as you find him.”

“Kairi, don’t worry about me. I’ll get away.” Goofy shook his head.

Kairi gritted her teeth. “All right, Solace. This isn’t a choice, is it?”

“Of course, you have the choice to participate. But either way, Goofy comes with me.”

“Bring it on.”

Solace summoned a pillar of light behind him. “No! Kairi!” Goofy shouted as he struggled against the man; but Solace stepped through the portal and it disappeared before Kairi could follow.

Kairi shook her head and took a deep breath. She thought she wouldn’t have to be alone, but maybe it would’ve been better. Goofy would’ve been safe. Now she was alone anyway, and the situation was dire.

She sighed. This was no time to panic. If she were Solace, where would she take someone?

The task was supposed to be possible to solve, so it wouldn’t be somewhere random in the woods. No, it would be somewhere obvious. Still, Kairi hadn’t seen enough of this world to know where to look for something like that.

It wouldn’t be the camp; that was too close. Though, she could take a saunter through to make sure. She knew which direction Riku and Donald had gone, so Solace wouldn’t have taken him that way. If she followed the trail one direction or the other, she had a fifty-fifty chance of finding her way.

She walked to the center of camp, took a deep breath, and began her way down the trail to the left.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

(Solace)

Solace left one hand of Goofy’s arm but took away the knife. Goofy tried to pull away, but Solace held tight. “Calm down. I’m not really going to let the Heartless get you.”

“What? You expect me to believe that?” Goofy asked.

“You have my word. I have no reason to want you hurt.”

“Your word isn’t worth anything after what you did,” Goofy snapped.

“Hmm… I didn’t expect you to have such a temper.” Solace shook his head. “Kairi will have as much time as she needs. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Then why did you tell her three hours?”

“A little pressure never hurts,” he said.

“Why are you doing this? Really just for fun?”

“Not entirely,” Solace said. “You see, this is a test. I need to see if she’s ready to face the Organization. There are far too many for you to all fight together.”

“If we stick together, we’ll be more likely to win!” Goofy shook his head. “Just take me back to her if you don’t want to hurt us. She’s scared to be alone.”

“Precisely the problem,” Solace said. “You can’t always be there to protect her, Goofy, whether you’re a knight and she a princess or not.”

“I can do my best!”

“Don’t you want her to be able to be on her own? Aren’t you coddling her?” Solace asked.

“She’d be fine on her own, but that doesn’t make it right for you to take me away.” Goofy looked like he didn’t mean his words but shook his head. “What’s your deal, Solace?”

Solace raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He had no idea what to expect from this buffoon. The residents of Disney Castle didn’t follow the same rules as those of other worlds. He compared as much to a sentient animal as to a human. Solace could anticipate the thoughts and feelings of all beings from his position… except for those as innocent as Goofy.

“Actually, I would.” Goofy said.

“Why?” Solace asked in shock.

“Well, you see, everyone has a little good in them. Maybe you just need to get out the dark stuff to let in a little light!”

“I assure you, there is no darkness to me whatsoever,” Solace said. “My actions are unwarranted, unforeseen; but I am not a creature of darkness like those Heartless or the Organization.”

“Then what are you?” Goofy asked.

 Solace stared at him for a moment. “Fine. I suppose I can just wipe your memory of this conversation.”

“You would anyway, wouldn’t you? So that Kairi didn’t know I was safe?”

“Of course.”

“Then what does it hurt?”

Solace smiled. Maybe this creature wasn’t an oaf after all.

“I am a creature of light; a seraph, tasked with the sorting of hearts when they move on to the next realm. Or at least, I was,” Solace said. “You see, a bit of darkness snuck its way into my heart from that of another, and I was to be erased.”

“Erased? That’s a bit extreme.”

“It was the way things were.” Solace shrugged. “But I didn’t want to die, so I took my spear with me and left. This was in the other timeline.”

“Okay…”

“I was watching someone in the other timeline; I had been for ages. They defied fate, years into this future, and… I wanted that freedom from destiny.” He shook his head. “The Soul Spear, the weapon I used for sorting, had a mind of its own. As a seraph, I could control it, but it also controlled me. So long as I held it, I would never be free.”

Solace sighed. “So… I found the boy who defied fate. He had enough light to wield the spear, though I knew it would control him, as he was human. It was wrong of me…” He shook his head. “But I wanted to be free. It was worth it.”

“You hurt a kid?”

“Kairi’s age,” he said.

“Is that why you’re so fascinated with Kairi?”

“Part of the reason… The rest is not mine to tell.” Solace looked at the sky. “I gave the boy the spear, and it destroyed his soul, taking over… Or so I thought. In the end, he broke through the control, destroyed the spear, and tried to destroy me. He thought he succeeded.

“And oh, did I hate that boy. He did what I never could, yet again. And he lived, and he would’ve had a happily ever after.” Solace looked down. “But I was dying, and I didn’t want to die. So, I went back in time, so I would live. But to live, I had to make sure he was never born. And so, I changed the timeline.”

“He was Kairi’s kid?” Goofy asked.

“Perceptive, I see.” Solace shook his head. “He was, but now he never will be.”

“You destroyed an entire timeline for one kid?”

“I wanted to live,” Solace said. “Now, I’m free. The Soul Spear is gone; for that, I would thank him; and the elders will never find me. This is my chance to live.”

“Then why do you torment people?” Goofy asked. “Can’t you just leave us alone? Haven’t you done enough damage?”

“I have to keep you safe,” Solace said. “It’s the least I can do. I destroyed the boy, but he would want Kairi to live. And if upsetting her for a while is what it takes to do that, then I will.”

“Solace…” Goofy shook his head. “Please don’t hurt any of my friends.”

“Don’t worry, Goofy; I don’t plan to.”

 

(Kairi)

Kairi couldn’t help but be afraid. It was dark, and there were Heartless as she walked, and she couldn’t see them very well. She was managing to fight her way through with little injury, but there was the fear that something bigger could be lingering around the corner. She didn’t want to be afraid, but just like when Maleficent kidnapped her, she was terrified. And this time, she didn’t have help from Sora.

And now she had to find Goofy before it was too late. There was no reason Solace wouldn’t follow through on his word and harm him. Worst of all, Kairi had no idea how to tell how much time had passed to know how long she had left.

“Okay,” she said under her breath. “I can do this. I haven’t seen anything yet, but surely this trail leads somewhere.” She shook her head. “Damn it, I should’ve waited on Donald and Riku. We could’ve covered more ground.”

She had handled things without her crew back in Disney Castle, but she hadn’t been alone. She hated it; she was so scared of being left behind, of being alone without anyone beside her.

 _I can do this,_ she repeated to herself. She could do it, and she would be stronger for it.

Moonlight shone bright in a clearing. She stepped forward, and suddenly three massive Heartless appeared. They appeared to be something like centaurs wielding spears, but she didn’t take too much time to question it before summoning her Keyblade. _Well this is certainly fair,_ she thought as she rushed toward them.

These foes were far more powerful than the other Heartless she had fought on this path, spinning their spears and knocking her back. She picked herself off the ground each time and lunged right back it, taking a moment here and there to heal herself. She had never had to dodge attacks like theirs before, and she didn’t have time to kill learning how to do so.

In the end, she prevailed, and pressed forward. “That wasn’t so bad,” she said, wincing in pain and fearing she had jinxed herself. Still, she had handled that on her own. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all.

She was less afraid, but still shivering inside. She could defend herself; she had already known that… though before she had to run. This time she couldn’t run. Those foes were too fast, and she had to pay attention to where she was going, which was difficult in the dark.

She had to be brave, and as she walked, she stood up straighter. Though more Heartless crossed her path, she knew she’d be all right.

“What if I went the wrong way?” she worried. “I’m okay, but if I went the wrong way… Goofy won’t be.

“No, I have to stay focused,” she decided. “There’s still a chance!”

In the distance there was a hill, and on that hill was a shrine. It was the perfect place. Kairi rushed forward.

A swarm of Heartless appeared before her, flying overhead with gears clicking away. She groaned but summoned her Keyblade.

She fought for several minutes, but their numbers didn’t seem to be diminishing. “I don’t have time for this!” she shouted.

“Kairi!” Goofy’s voice rang from above.

“Goofy!” she yelled, running through the swarm. It followed her, but she had to make it to Goofy. If they were surrounding him… she didn’t know what she would do.

As she reached the top, there stood Solace and Goofy, Solace holding onto Goofy’s arm. Solace smiled. “You made it,” he said. “And with an hour to spare. I’m impressed.”

“Let him go!” Kairi shouted, glancing back at the swarm.

“Now this just won’t do,” Solace said, waving his hand. In a burst of light, all the Heartless disappeared. “Now then, we’ll say you arrived victorious anyway. You made it this far alone.”

Solace let go of Goofy. “Kairi! You made it!” Goofy said.

“Thank goodness!” she said. She turned to Solace. “Why did you do this?”

“Because I wanted to,” Solace replied. “Now then…”

There was a burst of light, and Kairi looked around. They now stood outside the army camp, where it all began.

“Whoa!” Goofy gasped.

“Your friends have not yet returned. They still believe you safe and sound. Boy, will you have a story to tell,” Solace said.

“Why would you—”

“Goodbye, Kairi, Goofy. It was… nice to get acquainted with you, Goofy.”

“What do you mean?” Goofy asked.

“Oh, nothing. It doesn’t matter.” Solace waved, sprouted his glowing wings, and shot up into the night.

“Are you okay?” Kairi asked Goofy frantically.

“I’m fine, Kairi. I don’t think he was really going to hurt me.” Goofy scratched his chin. “Don’t know why I think that, though.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe,” Kairi sighed.

“You found me all on your own!”

“I did, didn’t I?” Kairi said with a grin. “Oh, I’m so happy you’re okay!” Kairi said, hugging him.

“Of course I’m safe, Kairi; I knew you’d find me.” Goofy said. “That was quite a night, though.”

“It was… I hope he doesn’t come back soon.”

“I don’t think he will,” Goofy said.

“You don’t?”

“I don’t. And if he does, you can handle him,” Goofy said.

“Right!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of background on Solace is here.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

(Naminé)

Naminé sat down her pencil for a moment, rubbing her eyes. She didn’t know how much longer she had left to work with. She had lost track of Sora. He wasn’t on the Destiny Islands any longer, but she had no idea where he had gone. To limit the damage, she needed to hurry on the process of removing fragments of the old timeline. At the same time, she didn’t know how long it would be before Kairi would encounter Roxas and Xion, and if that happened before she was ready, she didn’t know what would take place.

It was all so much work, and so much more important than what she had done in the previous timeline. All that kept her going these days was the thought that maybe she could put things right. She had to listen to what Solace had asked her to do. It was for the best; it was her duty.

Still, she didn’t think it would take much longer to remove the remnants of the old timeline to her satisfaction. She couldn’t rightfully erase the memories of Sora in this timeline to make thing simpler, and she couldn’t remove the acknowledgement that the old timeline even existed from those who were present at Hollow Bastion when Solace revealed himself. There would always be a few people out there who knew that something had changed; but those who didn’t mustn’t worry about it. She would be done soon.

She knew she needed to begin working on Roxas and Xion, but she wasn’t sure how to go about that. In the old timeline, she had met both of them, made them do things they didn’t want to, for the greater good, for Sora. Now, she was manipulating them again. It was wrong, but she had to do it. She didn’t care if they would resent her for it. She had her friends here and now. She didn’t care what those she once knew thought.

Still, for some reason it stung. It was bizarre to her, much like the warm feeling she felt when she was around Hayner, Pence, and Olette. She was a Nobody. She had no heart. She should feel nothing at all, but here she was feeling things she didn’t understand. Guilt and distress; friendship and relief. Maybe Solace was right. Maybe Nobodies did have hearts after all.

“Naminé,” an unexpected voice said from beside her.

She turned around in surprise. “Solace! What are you doing here?” She glanced at the clock. It would still be some time before the others arrived.

“How is your work going?” he asked.

“Well…” She paused. “I decided to do as you asked and remove fragments of the old timeline. I think I have things to a satisfactory state now.”

“Satisfactory state?”

“Yes. I believe that no one who encounters Sora now will remember ever knowing him… However, I don’t feel right removing memories that have taken place in this timeline.” Naminé looked down. Part of her expected something painful to follow.

Instead, Solace’s voice was soothing. “I understand,” he said. “There is only so much that is right to change. Things that have actually happened in this time are… a touchy subject. I recently removed a conversation from Goofy myself, and I too feel guilty.”

Naminé looked up at him in surprise. “You can change memories too?”

“To an extent. I am nowhere near as powerful as you. I can only remove up to a few hours into the past, and I cannot replace.”

“I see.” Naminé said.

“How is working on Roxas and Xion going?” Solace asked.

Naminé clenched her sketchpad tightly in her hands. “I… I don’t know what to do. I’m having to place alternate memories within Roxas and Xion, and it’s difficult to decide on options outside of the old timeline that will be affective.”

“Can you give them the current truth? The Organization’s real goals, that they come from Kairi and Sora; can you give them those thoughts and feelings?”

Naminé shook her head. “I can’t create new memories. I can only change the chains that connect them.”

“I see…” Solace looked down. “Perhaps there is nothing you can do without undoing all the work you have already done; and I do not want to make you do that.”

Naminé looked up at him. “There must be something I can do!” she said. “I can’t let anything happen to any of them!”

Solace studied her. “Perhaps there is.” He paused. “I can give you an ability, one that you must use carefully and only for this task. Something that belongs to those such as me.”

“What is it?” Naminé was cautious.

“The ability to enter dreams and create illusions,” Solace said. “I myself am no expert, but it was my duty to give this power to others. Since you are not human, I suppose it may be possible.”

“Create illusions?”

“Not so different from what you can already do,” Solace said. “You take the memories that are there and manipulate them into something they aren’t, correct? Within a dream, you do not bend reality, as it isn’t real.”

“Why can’t you do it?” Naminé asked.

“They wouldn’t believe me,” Solace said. “Besides, it’s like I said: it’s difficult for me, and I don’t know if I could do so safely anymore after all I’ve done.” He paused. “But Nobodies dream the same as humans, correct?”

“I do dream… whether it is like a human or not, I don’t know.”

“When you are in the realm of dreams, it is possible to travel between. Usually this is done by Dream Eaters: Nightmares and Spirits. But…” Solace shook his head. “No. It’s too dangerous. There’s nothing that can be done.”

“Solace… I want to help them,” she said. “I… I can’t go to the Organization. I can’t chance it.”

“I’m surprised they have yet to discover you. I’ve hidden you well.”

Naminé swallowed. “Give me this power. I swear I won’t use it on anyone else, just Roxas and Xion. And when I am done, you can take it away.”

Solace studied her. “Naminé… I believe I can trust you; but I do not want any harm to come to you.”

“It’s worth it. I promise I’ll do my best to use it to save them.”

Solace sighed and looked away. “All right, Naminé. I will give you the power to enter Roxas and Xion’s dreams; but no one else. The power will expire in two weeks. I realize that isn’t much time, but there is not much time to be had.”

Naminé swallowed. “Two weeks?”

“I believe if you enter their dreams and talk to them, it may be enough to begin the process… If it’s not, give them an illusion of a battle. If that fails… Give up.” He paused. “Spend no more time than necessary within the dreams. If you’re there when they wake, you may be trapped until they rest once more.”

Naminé stiffened. “Trapped?”

“That would be very unsafe. This whole situation is,” he said. “If the Organization were to find you when you were there, you would be vulnerable to capture.”

“What would they do to me?”

“They would try to get you to join their number, and if that failed, you would be disposed of.” Solace shook his head. “I will do my best to ensure that does not happen, that you are safe. I do not want to force this task upon you and endanger you.”

“You aren’t forcing it upon me. I’m asking you to.”

“You are, aren’t you?” Solace smiled. “You really are something, Naminé. I’d never believe that you don’t have a heart.”

“I don’t, do I?” Naminé asked.

“Not yet, but it is forming. Spend as much time as you can with your friends.”

“Forming? But…”

“Believe me,” Solace said. “I have done nothing to harm you yet, have I?”

“No… You haven’t.”

“And I never will.” Solace placed his hand on her forehead. A faint glow emitted from it, and Naminé felt something growing within her, a new power. “When you sleep, you will know how to use this power.”

“Solace…” She smiled. “Thank you for everything.”

“It is I that should thank you,” he said. “You are making up for my mistakes, not your own.”

“You saved me,” she said, “and you’re protecting me where I can’t. I am forever in debt to you.”

“Never feel that way, Naminé,” Solace said. “You owe no one anything.” He smiled. “Once Roxas, Xion, Kairi, and Sora are safe, you are free. Finally free.”

“Only you would say that.” She shook her head. “You are so kind. I don’t understand why you did this.”

“I wanted to be free, too. That is all.” Solace sighed. “I must go before your friends arrive.”

“Will you visit again?” she asked.

“If you would like.”

“I would.”

Solace nodded. “Then I will.” A pillar of light appeared behind him. “Until next time.”

“See you soon.”

Solace stepped through the portal.

Naminé looked up at the clock. They would return soon. She set her sketchbook aside. Now she just needed to wait until nightfall. There was much to be done.

 (Solace)

He had wanted to be free, nothing more, nothing less, and he wished the same fate unto others. But, no matter what Solace did, he could never be free from the burden of guilt that he held for changing the timeline for his own gain. He had tried to move on from it, but it always came back.

Solace wasn’t the kind of person to sit back and watch and do nothing. At first, he had observed Kairi’s new fate just to ensure that it happened; but that he found Sora, unconscious and unprotected, and he knew he must do something to protect him. He had, and now the worlds were safe, and now Naminé had fixed the leftovers of his mistakes. Solace should be happy now, be able to move on and leave it all alone, find somewhere quiet to rest.

But he couldn’t. He had ended an entire timeline so that he alone could live. He had to ensure that this new timeline was _good_. He had to make sure that this wasn’t a burden on everyone. And so, he had freed Naminé, and greedily asked for her help. Now that she was done, he had freed her of the burden, but she refused; they were much like each other, really.

Solace couldn’t sit back and watch. He didn’t want to. So much for freedom.

He wanted to make sure that Kairi and the others could stop Xehanort this time around, too. He would do everything in his power to make that happen. He wasn’t a hero, but he wasn’t going to let the true villain win.

Solace sighed. He had changed things. They could never go back. And as happy as he was to be alive, part of him wished that the boy who caused it all still would walk in the universe and wield their own Keyblade. That would never happen now… But he could make sure there was no reason he should need to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Okay then. I threw in a bit of “Power of Memories” stuff (see that story by me.)


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

(Kairi)

Goofy perked up and looked down the trail in front of them. “Here they come!” he said.

Kairi looked over. “Good!”

She was exhausted from the previous night’s events, and she wanted nothing less than to be reunited with the rest of their group so that they could rest and move on to the next world, if they hadn’t found anything. Given that they were unaccompanied, Kairi could only assume that Sora or the King weren’t in the village up ahead.

They had been seated around the ashes of their campfire, waiting for their friends to arrive. They had spent the night in the Gummi ship but decided it better to return to where they had been left so they could meet up more easily. Goofy stood up, and after a moment, Kairi did as well.

When Riku saw them, he started walking more quickly. Donald shouted something that she couldn’t quite make out from this distance before rushing to catch up.

Riku reached them and grinned. “I see that you’re safe,” he said.

“Of course, we are!” Kairi said, crossing her arms.

“Though, it was kind of close,” Goofy added.

“Close?” Donald asked as he caught up. “Did something happen?”

“Well, Solace came and took me away, but Kairi found me so everything is fine,” Goofy said.

Riku stared blankly at them for a moment. “Solace took you?” There was an implied ‘how did that happen?’

“It doesn’t matter. Everything’s okay, we’re both fine; and it looks like you two are, too,” Kairi said.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Riku said.

“Did you find anything out?” Goofy asked.

Donald shook his head. “No. No one’s seen Sora or the King.”

“I figured as much,” Kairi said.

“What makes you say that?” Riku asked.

“Well… I don’t know. I just felt like he wasn’t here is all.”

“She might be able to tell where he is when he’s near, since their hearts were connected and all,” Goofy suggested.

“Hmm… That’s a thought,” Riku said; but something in his expression made Kairi wonder what it meant.

Donald tapped his foot impatiently. “Then let’s get out of here!” he said. “No use sticking around if there’s nothing to see.”

“I hate that we didn’t solve the problem of the Heartless…” Kairi said.

“We can’t fix everything by focusing on individual worlds,” Donald said. “We need to do like Master Yen Sid said and fight the Organization.”

“You’re right,” Kairi admitted.

“Now then, let’s get back to the Gummi ship so we can move forward,” Donald said.

 

The Gummi ship approached a familiar world, one that Kairi recognized easily. The Olympus Colosseum. It shone brightly on a mountain above a dark abyss that she didn’t remember having seen before.

“Are we landing here?” Donald asked.

Kairi nodded. “You never know if they might be here,” she said. “And who knows; maybe some of the Organization will be here, too.”

“You think so?” Riku asked.

Kairi shrugged. “They’ve got to be somewhere, don’t they?”

“Enough already! Let’s go!” Donald said.

They exited the Gummi ship and walked in the sandy lot in front of the colosseum. Kairi looked around. There was signage near the doorway across from the entrance, and the door that stood opposite was cracked.

“What’s up with that?” Kairi asked, pointing at the doorway.

“There’s something on the other side,” Donald said.

“Gawrsh, I don’t remember that being there,” Goofy noted.

Kairi tilted her head. “Should we go check it out?”

“Let’s see what Hercules and Phil are up to first,” Riku suggested. “Maybe they’ve seen Sora or the King.”

Kairi nodded in agreement. “Let’s see if they’re up here.”

Kairi rushed across the courtyard and up the stairs, opening the door and heading into the lobby.

Phil stood across the room, in front of the door to the stadium, peering out into the battle taking place. “Sorry folks,” he said without turning, “seats are full. You’ll have to come back next time.”

“What if we’re here to enter the games?” Kairi asked.

“Don’t you know the next tournament isn’t until next month?” Phil said. “You’ll just have to wait. We’re kind of busy.” Phil turned around. “Kairi, my girl! What brings you back here?”

“Looking for our friends again,” Kairi said. “Still haven’t seen them?”

“Nope. Nobody new,” Phil said. “Who’s the punk?”

“Punk?” Riku said, taking a step back.

Kairi giggled. “This is Riku; he’s one of my friends, but we obviously found him,” she said.

“He looks like a decent fighter at least,” Phil said, “but that’s yet to be seen.”

“Hey! He looks like a decent fighter and I was just a little kid?” Kairi protested.

“Now, now; you know he has certain…”

“It’s because I’m a girl, isn’t it?”

“No! You just don’t have muscles,” Phil insisted.

Riku glanced down at his arms for a moment and smirked. “He’s right, you know,” Riku teased.

“Jerks,” Kairi grumbled, crossing her arms before bursting out laughing. They were right, after all. She did look a lot weaker than she really was.

“Really, though, if you’re here for the games, you came a bit early,” Phil said. “All that’s going on is Hercules fighting spectacle matches.”

“Oh,” Kairi said.

Cheering could be heard from within the stadium. Kairi glanced that direction. “Until next time,” Hercules shouted before coming into the room. He sighed and slumped for a moment.

“Hercules?” Kairi said. “What’s got you so down?”

Hercules started and looked up. His face lit up. “Kairi! Donald! Goofy!” he cheered. “You look good!”

“Hey Herc,” Kairi said. “You look… Tired.”

“No… Well, maybe a little.” Hercules shrugged. “What brings you to Olympus?”

“Looking for two of our friends,” Kairi said. “Oh! This is Riku!”

“At least you found of one them,” Hercules said. “But I haven’t seen anyone else.”

“Oh,” Kairi said. “Well…”

Riku shook his head. “What about people in black coats? See anyone like that?” he asked.

“Yes, actually,” Hercules said. “They were watching the contest earlier.”

“Really?” Donald said. “Where did they go?”

“I don’t know,” Hercules said. “Probably the Underworld.”

“And it’s too dangerous for you to go down there,” Phil said, “so forget it!”

“Don’t worry, Phil,” Hercules said. “You’ve seen them fight. I’ll just let them borrow the Olympus Stone.”

“The Underworld…” Kairi wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that, but they needed to investigate. “Why do we need this stone?”

“The Underworld drains the strength of living,” Hercules said. “It’s Hades’ domain.”

“Hades!” Donald gulped.

“Who’s Hades?” Riku asked.

“He’s bad news,” Goofy said.

“We’ll be fine,” Kairi said. “Just have to make sure we don’t run into him.”

“He doesn’t wander much,” Hercules said. “He’s probably in his study.”

“Okay? Where’s this stone?” Donald asked.

“I’ll give it to you under one condition,” Hercules said. “I have to ask a favor.”

“Of course!” Kairi said.

“I have a… friend. Her name’s Meg. She’s been missing, and she’s hung out near the Underworld before… Could you look for her?”

“Definitely!” Kairi said. “We’ll find her and bring her back.”

“If it’s not too much trouble…” Hercules said. “I’d go down there myself, but things are so backed up here. Hades keeps sending more and more monsters for me to fight.”

“Next one’s coming right up, bud,” Phil said.

“You need us to take this one?” Kairi asked.

“No, I’ll be fine,” Hercules said. “The crowd’s waiting for me, after all.”

“If you’re sure,” Kairi said.

Hercules walked over to a column and pulled out a round stone. “Take this with you,” he said.

“Are you sure about this, Herc?” Phil asked. “Sending these kids down there?”

“Goofy and I aren’t kids,” Donald said. “We can take care of Kairi and Riku.”

“Not that we need taken care of,” Riku said.

“I’m sure,” Hercules said. He groaned. “Good luck,” he said, heading back through the stadium door.

“Keep an eye on him, won’t you, Phil?” Kairi said. “He looks drained.”

“Already on it, kid,” Phil said. “You guys take care of yourselves down there.”

“Always,” Kairi said. She turned to the others. “Ready?”

“Ready!” everyone said in turn.

“All right! To the Underworld!” Kairi said, leading the way out the door.

 

Through the doorway into the Underworld, the light faded to dim blue rather than sunny skies above. The path was a dull steel grey, and on either side was water. Kairi led the way forward, looking around carefully.

“This place is gloomy,” Riku said.

Kairi nodded. She spotted someone walking down the path straight ahead toward a massive doorway. “Hey! Someone in a black cloak!” she called out, pointing.

“You’re right!” Donald said. “Let’s follow them!”

“Wait, we need to look for Meg,” Kairi said.

“We don’t know which way to go to find her,” Goofy said. “Let’s just follow that black coat fella and see where he’s going.”

“Right.” Kairi rushed forward to follow the figure.

They followed through the doorway. On the other side was another door, and the figure was nowhere in sight. However, coming through the next doorway was a woman with brown hair in a high ponytail dressed in a pink dress. She looked at the ground as she walked, looking defeated.

Kairi tilted her head. “Hey! Are you Meg?”

The woman looked up. “How do you know my name?”

“Hercules sent us to find you,” Kairi said.

“Did he now?” Meg smiled. “Wonderboy is worried about me.”

“He seemed to be,” Donald agreed.

“Wonderboy?” Riku asked.

“I guess he couldn’t come down here himself, then,” she said. “That’s a good thing. He’d be upset if he knew why I was here.”

“He thought you might be,” Riku said. “But why are you here, anyway?”

“Don’t tell him, but…”

“What is it?” Kairi asked.

She frowned. “Hades keeps sending bigger and bigger monsters up to fight him. He’s exhausted… I hoped I could talk Hades into giving him a break.”

“You can’t talk Hades into anything!” Kairi said. “He’s the one who does the talking.”

“Well, I thought it was worth a shot,” Meg said, “but he said no, unless I did something for him… and I’ve been down that road before, and not again.”

“That’s wise,” Kairi said.

“What’s brought you guys down here, anyway?” Meg asked. “You don’t look like heroes.”

“We are!” Donald said.

“Junior heroes, Donald,” Goofy amended.

“After all we’ve done, I think we’re beyond junior heroes,” Kairi said.

“I think we’re just regular people,” Riku said. “Like you.”

“In that case, you should get out of here,” Meg said.

“Say, did you see someone wearing a black coat go by?” Donald asked.

“Hmm? Yeah, he ran right past me.”

“Through that doorway, then,” Riku said. “Thanks.”

“Can you make it back up on your own?” Goofy asked.

“Of course!” Meg said. “If you need to go after that guy, go ahead. I’ll be fine.”

“Great!” Kairi said. “We’ll come check on you before we leave.”

“Leave?”

No one replied. “Let’s go!” Kairi led the way down the path.

The path beyond the door led through a series of caves; well, the entire Underworld seemed to be a cave, but more enclosed chambers, narrower passages. The air surrounding them was filled with flitting puffs of light that moved around curiously, popping up and disappearing at a moment’s notice. Kairi vaguely wondered what they might be but didn’t pay too much mind to them. They needed to find the cloaked figure before he had time to escape.

It was through several chambers before they found them. They stood in front of another doorway, studying it carefully. Kairi hurried to catch up before he might have the chance to get away.

“Stop right there!” she shouted.

The man in the black coat turned to face them. “Who are you?” he asked.

“You’re with the Organization, right?” Kairi asked as the others caught up.

“Depends on who’s asking.”

“Enough messing around,” Riku said, summoning his Keyblade. “We need to fight him, right?”

Kairi summoned her Keyblade as well, but something left her felt wary. “I don’t know…”

“Wait a minute: Keyblades?” the man asked in surprised. He lowered his hood, revealing sandy blonde hair in a mullet-like style, pale skin, and turquoise eyes. Upon further inspection, he looked quite scrawny. He didn’t look dangerous at all.

“What about it?” Kairi asked.

“I just thought—I thought that they were the only ones—” The man shook his head. “Man, they must not tell me anything.”

“Why are you stalling, Kairi?” Donald asked. “If he’s with the Organization, we need to fight!”

Kairi shook her head. “I don’t know. He seems pretty…”

“They sent the wrong guy for this job,” Demyx said. “Man, this was supposed to be a simple recon mission, and now there are people wanting to fight me? People with Keyblades, even!”

“Recon?” Kairi asked. “Hey, wait a minute? Have you seen someone with spiky brown hair? Or what about a person with big round ears?”

“Never heard of them,” Demyx said. “Say, why don’t you just chill out? I’ll be on my way, and then you can be on yours.”

“But you’re with Organization XIII! You’re one of the bad guys!” Donald said.

“We’re not bad guys,” Demyx said. “We’re just trying to get our hearts back!”

“Get… get your hearts back?” Kairi asked in surprise.

“Oops. Wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about that,” Demyx said. “I’m Demyx. I won’t get in your way if you don’t get in mine.”

“I… I don’t know if we should introduce ourselves,” Kairi said. She looked back at the others. They had their weapons raised. “You’re just trying to get back your hearts?”

“Yeah…” Demyx tilted his head. “Say, you seem like a nice enough girl. Give me an out card and I’ll put in a good word for us to leave you guys alone.”

“No! We’re supposed to be stopping the Organization!” Donald protested. “Come on, Kairi; this guy looks easy to beat.”

“Let’s… let’s let him go,” Kairi said, sending her Keyblade away. “Maybe we need to look a little deeper into this Organization XIII thing.”

“Thanks, man!” Demyx said. He summoned a portal of darkness and backed up towards it. “You’re a stand-up gal.”

“Don’t call me a ‘gal’!” Kairi yelled after him as he scurried through.

“Kairi!” Riku protested. “You’re the one who said we needed to find the Organization!”

“They’re just trying to get back their hearts…”

“It doesn’t matter why they’re doing it, they’re doing terrible things!” Donald said.

“And what are those things?” Kairi asked. “Yen Sid didn’t tell us anything other than that they were bad people.”

“Gawrsh Kairi, there must be a reason,” Goofy said. “Don’t you think?”

“I’m sure there is,” Kairi said, “but we don’t know that reason.”

“That’s true…” Riku said.

“I say that we keep an eye on them and try to find out more about them before we attack,” Kairi said. “Maybe if we can find the King, he can tell us more.”

“But what about in the meantime?” Donald argued. “What if they’re out there doing terrible things and we’re just letting it happen?”

Kairi shook her head. “If we see it, we’ll do something about it. But we haven’t seen them doing anything.” She paused. “We saw Axel in Twilight Town, and he helped head us in the right direction. Now we saw Demyx, and he does this.”

“What about the guy back in Hollow Bastion?” Goofy said. “He was very strange, and you said he took something.”

“True…” Kairi said. She crossed her arms. “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to let him go, after all.”

Riku sighed. “It’s obvious that you felt it wasn’t right to fight him. Maybe we should listen to your instincts and go on a case-by-case basis until we know more.”

“Thanks, Riku.”

Donald tapped his foot impatiently. “I don’t like it.”

“Gawrsh, between this Organization and Solace, I’m confused as to who’s really a bad guy,” Goofy said.

Kairi put her hand to her chin. “We know Solace is bad though, right? I mean, all he did, and then he kidnapped you.”

“I feel like there’s something I’m not remembering that he said,” Goofy said, “something that makes me trust him.”

“That’s stupid!” Donald said. “If you can’t remember it, it must not have been important.”

Riku shook his head. “Say, let’s go make sure Meg made it back okay,” he said. “Then we can go elsewhere to look for Sora and the King.”

“Right…” Kairi said, leading the way.

 

They returned to the colosseum after traveling back through the Underworld unhindered. Once there, they found Meg sitting in the lobby, looking sad and impatient.

“You made it back okay!” Kairi said.

Meg looked up. “Yeah…”

Kairi smiled. “Don’t worry; Hercules can take care of himself. It’ll all be over soon enough.”

“I’m not so sure…”

Hercules emerged from the stadium. “Hey guys! Thanks for finding Meg,” he said.

“No worries,” Kairi said. “Hey, we have to go now. Tell Phil we said bye, okay?”

“Right,” Hercules said. “Take care!”


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

(Naminé)

Naminé looked at her surroundings. She must have entered the dream world. There was no other explanation she could come up with. She had never been to this place; the room was silver and lined with symbols that she somehow knew signified Nobodies such as herself. At the window sat a girl wearing a black cloak looking out the window at a dark sky.

Naminé watched her for a moment. She knew she was Xion. Still, she knew she needed to speak up if something were to be done.

“Hello, Xion,” Naminé said.

“Huh?” Xion whipped her head around to face her. “Who are you?”

“My name is Naminé,” she said, placing her hand to her chest.

“Naminé…” Xion studied her. “What are you doing in the base? I’ve never seen you before.”

“Ah. This is the Organization’s base…” Naminé looked around. “Xion, I don’t have much time, but you need to listen to me. I know you have no reason to believe a word I say, but…”

Xion stared at her for a moment. “What do you have to say?”

“I…” She looked down. “You need to leave the Organization. Your life depends on it.”

“What?” Xion hissed.

“I know, it sounds crazy; but soon, the Organization will catch wind of Keyblade wielders outside of their number, those other than you and Roxas… When they do, you will have to fight, and when you clash with Kairi… You’ll both cease to exist.”

“Other… wielders?” Xion shook her head. “No. Only me and Roxas are chosen by the Keyblade.”

“I know that’s what the Organization has led you to believe.” Naminé looked back up to her. “Xion… you have to believe me.”

“Who is this Kairi? Why do you think I’d ever leave the Organization?” Xion shook her head. “Why should I believe you?”

Naminé looked at her hands. “Kairi is one of the other Keyblade wielders. You are very much connected, in ways that you will soon find out.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if you will leave the Organization or not. That choice is yours.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“I don’t know what to tell you; but you have to trust me!”

“No. I trust the Organization! I trust Roxas and Axel, no one else!”

Naminé looked down at her hands. She trusted Roxas and Axel… “I understand,” Naminé said. “I just thought… I thought it was worth trying. But if you don’t listen to me; if you fight Kairi… you and Roxas will be gone.”

Xion looked into her eyes for a moment. She looked almost curious, certainly not angry or afraid. “Naminé… Why do you care?”

Naminé blinked. “Because…” Why did she care? And how did she care? She was a Nobody. By all accounts, she shouldn’t care one way or another. But in the other timeline, she had made promises that she still held strong here, even if they would never take place.

Naminé nodded. “Because it is the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do…” Xion looked away. She looked up. “Naminé… Can you enter other people’s dreams?”

Naminé nodded. “Yes,” she said. She didn’t want to say who and mess things up, but it wasn’t a lie.

“Roxas…” Xion began, “He’s been asleep for a long time now. And nothing anyone does can wake him up.”

“Oh?” Naminé gasped.

“If you…” Xion looked down. “If you can wake him up, I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

Naminé studied her. “I’ll do my best,” she said.

“Thank you,” Xion said with a sigh. “Please… wake him up.”

Naminé nodded. “Goodbye, Xion.”

“See you soon,” Xion replied.

 

Naminé left the dream and woke with a start. She needed to go to Roxas’s dream, and soon. She closed her eyes, hoping she wasn’t overdoing it.

 

(Roxas)

Roxas looked around the room, the common room of the Castle That Never Was. It was strangely empty. This must be a dream, he decided, since things felt hazy and nothing made much sense. If it was a dream, he had nothing to worry about. He didn’t remember going to sleep, but dreams had always been a nice escape from the confines of reality.

But this time, a girl sat on one of the couches, facing him. She watched him intently, seeming to wait until she was noticed. She had long blonde hair and was clad in a white dress, looking very out of place where he usually saw only black coats.

He walked over to her. He was sure he had never seen her before, but you weren’t supposed to see new people within dreams. He was sure he might have seen her around a town while he was on a recon mission.

“Hello, Roxas,” she said.

“How do you know my name?” he asked.

She smiled. “My name is Naminé,” she said instead of a response.

“Naminé… I’ve never heard that name before,” he said, looking around. “I know this is a dream, but we’ve never met.”

“We haven’t,” Naminé said. She frowned. “Roxas… Do you know how long you’ve been asleep?”

“Huh? Well… no. I don’t remember falling asleep.”

“It’s been more than a week, though I’m not sure how much more.”

“What?”

“Xion told me,” she said. “She told me that if I could wake you up, she’d listen to what I had to say.”

“Listen to what you have to say?” Roxas asked. “Why am I asleep for so long?”

Naminé shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Roxas studied her for a moment. “You can wake me up?”

“I can try,” Naminé said. “I have something I need to talk to you about, but it can wait. I think Xion will tell you what I told her when you wake up.”

“Why can’t you tell me now?” Roxas asked.

“Because—” She shook her head. “Trust me. I need to talk to Xion first, okay?”

“What do I ask her?” he asked.

“She didn’t really listen to me this time,” she said. “She told me that if I woke you up, she would hear me out; but for now, we need to wake you up.”

“How am I supposed to know you’re telling the truth?”

“Why would I lie?”

“I don’t even know who you are. Why _wouldn’t_ you lie?”

“Roxas…” Naminé looked down. “You have no reason to trust me. I know that. But I need you know that you need to wake up eventually, right? Even if you haven’t been asleep for long.”

“I… I guess.” Roxas shook his head. Everything was so hazy, he couldn’t focus.

“Roxas, it seems that you’ve been asleep because of memories stirring within you… memories that shouldn’t be there,” Naminé said. “I can help you, either to get rid of them or bring them to the surface.” She looked wary. “I don’t know why or how they are there. They shouldn’t be.”

“Don’t get rid of them!” Roxas said. “I don’t remember anything from when I was whole! Don’t take that away!”

“They aren’t from when you were whole,” Naminé said. “They’re from a reality that doesn’t exist anymore.”

“What?”

“Another timeline that was erased,” Naminé said. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch them before and get rid of them before they surfaced, but… I wanted to give you the choice.”

“Please! Don’t take them away!” He shook his head. “Even if they aren’t real, they’re something to hold on to. I… I want to know the truth.”

Naminé nodded. “The truth is, Roxas…” she paused. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t.”

“You and Xion are anomalies, like me; we’re people who aren’t supposed to exist in this timeline.”

“Nobodies aren’t supposed to exist. I already know that.”

“Not quite the same,” Naminé said. “Still…” She looked down. “The memories that are surfacing are those of a boy named Sora; but not from this timeline; from the old.”

“So… they aren’t really my memories?”

Naminé shook her head. “No.”

“Then why—”

“I messed up, Roxas,” she said. “And… I don’t see it as right to take that away from you, when you’re like me.”

Roxas swallowed. “What about the flashes—things that happen that I know haven’t yet, but I feel like they have before.”

“Other remnants of the old timeline,” Naminé said. Her face tightened. “I thought I fixed it. I’m sorry.”

“You think taking something away is fixing it?” Roxas said.

“If it’s not real… if it’s a burden… Why not?”

“It still belongs to me; obviously you care about that, or you’d take it away without a word,” Roxas said.

“I can’t make the images any clearer without messing up this timeline,” she said. “Those glimpses… won’t they just hurt you?”

“I have nothing else, not even memories, like Xion does,” Roxas said. “Please don’t take this away from me too.”

“I don’t know if I can wake you up without it! I don’t know…” She looked down. “I don’t know how to fix things unless I break them first…”

“Let’s find another solution,” Roxas said. “You can’t clear up the images, you’d have to send them away, which I don’t want…” He looked around. “Could you make them like a dream?”

“Like… a dream?”

“Yeah! What if I lived them out when I was asleep rather than them bugging me while I’m awake,” he said.

“But what if that’s why you’re asleep; that might be happening naturally,” Naminé said.

“I haven’t been seeing anything like that,” Roxas said.

Naminé nodded. “I understand.” She stood up. “Roxas… I think I can help you wake up now, but I need to leave before you do.”

“Naminé?”

“Please trust me,” she said. “And don’t mention the memories to Xion, okay?”

“Promise.”

Naminé faded away in a burst of light.

“Just who was she?” Roxas mused as everything faded to black.

 

Roxas opened his eyes. He was in his room, alone. It seemed that it was nighttime. He remembered talking to a girl in white… Her name was Naminé. And he had to trust her.

 

(Xion)

Roxas had woken up and told her he had spoken to someone named Naminé, who told him to ask Xion what she had told her. Shocked, Xion didn’t know what to say. Had Naminé not been lying about everything? She said that she could wake Roxas, and Xion had promised that if she did, she would hear her out…but when, and how?

She told Roxas what she knew, which was little. She had gotten back from that day’s mission to discover him awake, so she had some idea of what to do…if it would work or not, she did not know.

She must sleep. That’s where she had met Naminé before, and that would be where they would meet again.

 

Xion looked around—this time, she was at the clock tower. A common dream, though usually Axel and Roxas would be here. Instead, Naminé sat on the ledge of the tower alone, staring out at the setting sun. Xion walked over and sat next to her.

“You woke Roxas,” Xion said.

“Good.”

“So…I guess I need to hear you out, then.”

Naminé steepled her fingers and looked over at Xion. “You, Roxas, and I, are anomalies. We are not meant to exist in this timeline, even beyond being Nobodies.”

“Anomalies?”

“Yes. The timeline was changed, and as such, we were not supposed to have been created.” Naminé tilted her head. “Once, you and Roxas were created from a boy named Sora, and I from a girl named Kairi. But…Sora doesn’t have a Keyblade in this timeline, nor did he become a Heartless. We aren’t supposed to exist.”

Xion looked down. “Sora…I know that name…”

“You would. You are created from Kairi’s memories, and Sora is the one she cherishes most,” Naminé explained.

“Her memories?!” Xion gasped. “You mean, the islands…those are real?”

“They are real, but they are not yours,” Naminé said. “You were…created.”

“Created?”

“I’m not sure how to explain…” Naminé shook her head. “Xion…all I need you to know is that you must not fight Kairi.”

“Why would I fight her?”

“The Organization will soon have grief with her and another named Riku, Keyblade wielders.” Naminé shook her head. “Or at least, that’s what I have been told.”

“Been told?”

“Someone rescued me from a terrible fate,” Naminé said, looking down. “He warned me that I must stop you and Kairi from clashing, or else both of you would cease to exist.”

Xion’s eyes widened. “Cease to exist? How?”

Naminé shook his head. “He didn’t say. But I trust that he would know.”

Xion looked away. “So, that’s why you wanted me and Roxas to leave the Organization. So that we didn’t clash with Kairi.” She shook her head. “It’s not that simple. They’d bring us back. Our Keyblades collect hearts…”

“Oh…” Naminé sighed. “Well, do what you can…maybe, you can time it correctly. Just…don’t fight Kairi, even if you don’t leave.”

“Naminé…”

“Please tell Roxas what I told you,” Naminé requested. “I don’t…I don’t want anything to happen to either of you.”

Xion nodded. “Right…”

“I need to leave now,” Naminé said, standing up. “Please be careful.”

“I will.”

Naminé faded away in a burst of light.

 

When she woke, she told Roxas what Naminé had told her. They decided not to tell Axel, even though he was their best friend, because they didn’t want him to get involved. But they knew they couldn’t run…

And before they set out from their next mission, they were warned of two Keyblade wielders and told to observe and if they become a threat…destroy.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

(Kairi)

Kairi’s heart sank as she saw the world they approached—Atlantica. She groaned. “Really?” she muttered. “What’s the likelihood that Sora’s there?”

“Come on, Kairi—don’t you want to check in with Ariel?” Goofy asked.

Riku shook his head. “You aren’t scared of the water anymore, remember?”

“Of course I’m not scared! But that doesn’t mean I like it!” Kairi frowned. “But…it would be nice to see Ariel.”

“We’ll just stop in to see if she’s seen anything,” Donald suggested. “Then we’ll be on our way.”

“Right…” Kairi sighed. “Let’s get this over with.”

 

In a splash, the crew all landed in the waters of Atlantica unscathed. Kairi closed her eyes for a moment, remembering that she couldn’t drown here, remembering that she had nothing to be afraid of here, as she could fight anything that came her way, and her friends were right there beside her anyway.

“We made it,” Riku said, putting a hand on Kairi’s arm. Kairi opened her eyes and looked over at him. It still was so strange to see him in this world’s form.

Kairi nodded. “Right…” She looked down at herself, her pink tail jarring as always being there instead of legs. Still, at least she could breathe…

She heard swimming rushing toward them. “Oh! Kairi! Riku!” Ariel said as she swum to a halt in front of them.

“Hey Ariel!” Kairi said happily. “Say, have you seen anything strange around here?”

“Well, no, now that you mention it,” Ariel said, putting her hand to her chin. “Not even those creatures that were here before.”

“That’s great!” Donald said.

Kairi studied Ariel’s face. “But…you seem upset…”

Ariel shook her head. “Oh, Daddy and Sebastian just keep telling me what to do is all. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

Ariel swam around Kairi slowly. “Say…that scar is new.”

Kairi looked down at her chest. “I guess it is…” She hadn’t had a chance to look at this much of her body since she had released Sora’s heart…apparently it hadn’t left her without wounds.

“Are you all right?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine,” Kairi assured. “Anyway…We’ll get out of your hair…”

“Oh! Don’t tell me you’re leaving already!” Ariel said with a frown.

“Well…we’re kind of on a schedule,” Kairi said.

“Oh please tell me what has happened! Those creatures are gone, so something you did with those keys of yours helped…”

“Oh, uh, well…”

“Order!” Donald snapped.

Kairi nodded. “Sorry, I can’t tell you.”

“Oh, but you can tell me! I already know you’re from somewhere else, remember?”

“That’s true…” Kairi paused. “Let’s just say, we fixed things.”

“Nothing more?”

“No…Sorry.”

Ariel frowned. “But…You got to see more worlds, right? I want to…I want to see them too.”

Kairi frowned. “Ariel…”

“Order…” Donald said less sternly.

Kairi shook her head. “No, you don’t,” Kairi said. “After all that happened, I wanted to go back home, but I haven’t had a chance to yet. I want to go back home, so much…but I can’t yet…”

“But, didn’t you once want to leave home? Surely you did! Otherwise you wouldn’t be here, right?”

Kairi looked down. “That’s true, but…I’d do anything to go back home now. So many things have happened, and…” She glanced and Donald and Goofy. “I don’t regret the friends I made, but if I could go back, if I could change it…I would’ve.”

Ariel looked down. “Oh…” She looked up at Riku. “What about you?”

Riku cleared his throat. “I wanted to leave home…more than anything…but I wish it hadn’t happened how it did.” Riku paused. “Ariel…if you knew you could never go back…would you still want to leave?”

Ariel gasped. “Oh…”

“Riku!” Donald snapped.

Ariel swam off.

“Wait!” Kairi called, swimming after her, hearing the others follow her.

 

Kairi followed Ariel to the surface, where she perched upon a rock. Kairi stuck her head out of the water. “Ariel…” Kairi shook her head. “You have to follow your heart, no matter what.”

“I just…there’s so much to see, so much to do…” Ariel said. “But…if I couldn’t go back…if I went ashore, or even as far as other worlds like you…I’m not sure I’d want that…”

“Think about it, okay?” Kairi said. “Really hard. Make sure you’re sure…”

“Kairi…come back and see me, won’t you?” Ariel asked. “I want to tell you…I want to tell you what I decide.”

“Yeah, of course!” Kairi said through gritted teeth. “Ariel, just remember, you aren’t alone, okay? Even if you feel out of place below the sea, you have your family there, your friends…don’t leave it all behind without a thought.”

Ariel nodded. “All right, Kairi.”

Kairi sighed. “We’d better go now, for real.”

“I know…you can’t stay for long, can you?”

“Nope…” Kairi tilted her head. “See you soon.”

“Yeah…”

Kairi dove under the water, where the others were waiting for her.

“I think she’s not going anywhere for now,” Kairi said.

“She couldn’t anyway, could she?” Goofy asked.

Kairi shrugged. “When you want something bad enough…”

“You find a way,” Riku finished, looking down.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

(Sora)

This place was strange, and dark. He thought portals of light were only supposed to take him to where it was safe—probably just another one of Solace’s lies. It figured. He shouldn’t have trusted him.

But while this place was dark, it was largely empty. He stood on a beach, faint light shimmering over the water being the only thing that enabled him to see. This world was terrible. There was no sign of any way out of here. He should just use a portal and leave—there was nothing to find here. Riku and Kairi wouldn’t be in a place like this.

But…Sora heard footsteps on the sand. He turned around and spotted two figures approaching. It was difficult to see them in the gloom. He considered hiding, but he figured that running would be the better choice if necessary. He listened carefully in the silent, windless space for whatever they might be saying.

“Mickey,” a woman said, “I’ve been following my heart—it’s supposed to lead me to Ven. I didn’t feel him, but now—”

“Look! There’s someone up ahead!” the person called Mickey interrupted.

They each summoned weapons—Keyblades! Sora waved at them.

The woman started running toward him. “No…someone else is stuck here too?”

“Stuck?” Sora asked, looking around.

“Oh?”

The mouse-like person caught up. “How’d you get here?”

“Well, I…” Sora stopped for a minute. “I made a portal, and it led me here.”

“A portal…” the woman said. She put her hand to her chin before looking at Mickey. “That light—he reminds me of Ven.”

“Oh?” the mouse studied him. “Oh! My name is Mickey by the way. And this is Aqua.”

“I’m Sora.”

“Sora?!?” Aqua gasped. A look of recognition crossed her face. “From the Destiny Islands.”

“Uh…yes?”

“You may not remember me—you were very young…”

“So Sora,” Mickey began. “You said you got here through a portal?”

“I did. But…I don’t really know how to control where they go.”

“The details don’t matter. Surely we could get back to the Realm of Light!”

“The Realm of Light?”

“This is the Realm of Darkness,” Aqua said. There was a look of hope in her eyes that had not been there before. “Please, Sora—help us get out of here.”

“I’ll do my best!” Sora said. He focused his energy, and the pillar of light appeared. “Let’s go!”

The three of them rushed through the portal, which closed behind them. When they looked up, things weren’t much brighter. Now they stood in a city, the inky darkness drowned out by neon lights. In the distance hovered a castle below a heart-shaped moon.

“What is this place?” Aqua asked. “It’s not the Realm of Light, nor of darkness. It’s something between…”

“Maybe we have to get through here to get back,” Mickey said. “Unless Sora can take us somewhere else.”

“To be honest with you, I have a feeling this is where we’re supposed to be,” Sora said. “I just have this feeling, deep in my soul, that this is where we were supposed to come.”

Aqua nodded. “I feel the same way.” She paused. “This feels like Departure felt, when I closed it up.”

“Oh?” Mickey shook his head. “Anyway, let’s take a look around.”

 

(Naminé)

Naminé looked up when she felt a presence but heard no footsteps. “Solace.”

“Naminé,” Solace greeted. “How did it go?”

“I—I did my best. I talked to Roxas and Xion, but I don’t think they’ve left…” Naminé looked down. “I’m sorry, Solace. I don’t know what else I can do…”

“That’s all right, Naminé.” Solace walked over and put a hand on her head. “You did what you could. I should have known you couldn’t fix it alone.”

Naminé looked up at him. “Is there anything else I can do? Anything at all?”

“Watch what transpires with Roxas and Xion. Though you can no longer enter their dreams, their connection to you remains.” Solace sighed. “As far as everything else, I’ll handle the rest.”

Naminé tilted her head. “What are you planning?”

“It’s nothing for you to worry about. Your job here is done. You’re free.”

Naminé looked up at him. “Solace…What are you going to do?”

Solace sighed. “Kairi cannot fill Sora’s place. This you know,” Solace said. “Sora and two others have arrived in the Organization’s home world. If they do not fill the void, I will.”

“You’d take on the Organization?!?” Naminé asked. “That’s—that’s crazy to do all alone.”

“I can handle it, my friend.” Solace smiled at her gently.

“I thought you wanted to be free, too.”

“Worry not. I will not let myself fall to undue harm.” Solace shook his head. “If it becomes too much to handle, I will make my leave.”

“Solace…”

“I have one last skill to teach you, in case you must ever flee. Portals of light. Then, I must go.”

Naminé nodded slowly. She had no choice but to trust Solace, as she had done this entire time. What else was she supposed to do?

(Aqua)

Aqua, Sora, and Mickey meandered their way through the streets. They were filled with Heartless and strange silver creatures like none Aqua had seen before. They were like Unversed in a way, but there was something else to them that she could not describe.

She knew one thing for certain. If anyone was watching they knew that they were here.

“What were you doing in the Realm of Darkness, anyway?” Mickey asked Sora.

“I, well…I didn’t intend to go there specifically. I wanted to look for my friends, Riku and Kairi. They had Keyblades, like you guys. But…I was worried when I got sent home without them, so I had to look for a way to join them.”

Aqua looked back at him. “Did you say Kairi?”

“Yes?”

“Surely not…” Aqua looked back ahead. “You know, when you don’t have the safe means to travel, it’s not wise to travel the worlds.”

“I thought I had a safe way!”

“Tell me more about this ‘Solace’ guy,” Mickey said.

“Well, I don’t know that much. All I know is that the Destiny Islands were destroyed, and my heart entered my friend Kairi. Solace protected my body until we were reunited…but apparently he’s the bad guy who somehow changed the timeline. He separated us all again, but changed his mind and decided to help me.”

“Changed the timeline?”

“I’m not really sure how…” Sora rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry I don’t know more.”

“That’s all right.” Aqua smiled. “I wonder if he’s why we’re here?”

“In a way, it is,” Mickey said. “Who knows where we’d be now if he hadn’t changed it?”

Aqua turned her attention back to the street ahead, but froze when she saw something. A figure in a black cloak…something about him felt familiar.

“Aqua, it has been so long,” the person said. The voice was wrong. “But I do know that you’re not supposed to be here.”

“Who are—how do you know my name?” Aqua summoned her Keyblade.

“I am what remains—or maybe I’m all there ever was.” The man took of his hood, and the face that looked back was—

“Terra?!?”

“Afraid not,” the man shook his head. “Though I do possess some memories from Terra, and his body is what created mine, my motivations and mind follow a different suit.”

“Then you’re the one who was controlling him!”

“In a way, yes. I am what became while he was controlled, true. But I am not Xehanort himself.”

“Xehanort?”

“My name is Xemnas. And the three of you aren’t supposed to be here…” Xemnas took a few steps forward. “How did you get here, anyway? Weren’t you still wandering the Realm of Darkness?”

Aqua saw that they were surrounded by the silver creatures. She backed away from Xemnas and closer to Mickey and Sora—so and Mickey both had the same plan—protect Sora. She gritted her teeth. “What is this place?”

“I’ll explain later. There will be plenty of time to do so.”

“Mickey, Aqua, look out!” Sora yelled, tackling them to the ground as a giant silver creature leapt inches above them.

Aqua raised her Keyblade into the air. “Zero Graviga!” The giant creature, along with all the others, rose into the air as they all jumped to their feet. “Let’s fall back!”

Mickey nodded. “Right!” he grabbed Sora’s arm, and the three ran back into the city.

“They’ll find you there, too,” Xemnas called from behind, “and they’ll bring you to me.”

“We need to get out of here,” Mickey said. “Sora, are you sure you can’t—”

“I’m trying to make a portal, but it’s not working,” Sora said.

Aqua shook her head. “That’s all right, Sora.” She slid to a stop at a corner and looked around. “We’ll just have to find somewhere to hide…”


	20. Chapter 20

 

Chapter 20

(Kairi)

“Why’d we come back to Twilight Town, anyway?” Riku asked as they headed down the clock tower.

“I don’t know, but I felt drawn here,” Kairi admitted. “It’s like…something was supposed to happen here that didn’t—a battle, a death…” Kairi looked down. “A girl who looked like me—then like Sora…She fought here.”

“Looked like you?” Donald asked.

“There’s only one Kairi,” Goofy said. “But, your feelings have proven right before. You saw Sora long before we knew he was in your heart.”

“Maybe this girl is connected to your heart, too,” Riku said.

“Maybe.” Kairi put her hands behind her head. “But what draws me more is that she looked like Sora as well. Our hearts were connected at one time. Could it be that this girl came from both of us?”

Riku cringed. “That’s freaky.”

“It’s probably nothing,” Donald said. “You probably just haven’t been getting enough sleep. We’re always on the move.”

“Hmm…Maybe you’re right.” Kairi shrugged. “Let’s look around since we’re here. Maybe say hi to—” Kairi froze and pointed. “Solace!”

“What do we do?” Donald asked.

“I have a bone to pick with him for what he did to Goofy!” Kairi said. She summoned her Keyblade. “Solace! Get over here!”

Solace paid them no mind and created a portal of light, rushing through it. Kairi and the others caught up just in time to slip through….

When they emerged, they were under a night sky, a heart-shaped moon hanging overhead, glowing pink.

“Where are we?” Riku asked.

Kairi looked around. They were high up—some kind of outcropping along a path through a building. Below was a dark city, lifeless.

“I…don’t know.” Kairi looked around. “Solace! Show yourself!”

“He’s not here,” Donald said.

Kairi looked around frantically. “Where’s our ship? He just dumped us here?”

“We need to find out where we are,” Riku said.

“Obviously.”

(Xion)

“Roxas. Xion. Stop slacking,” Axel said. “I don’t know what’s been up with you guys, but it stops now.”

“Axel!” Xion flinched.

“There are intruders in the city,” Axel said. “Xemnas himself said we’re to hunt them down.”

“Intruders?” Roxas asked.

“Yeah. They might be in the castle, too. I’m supposed to look around the city. You guys are supposed to head that way; but make your way through the castle. No Dark Corridors.”

Xion swallowed, but she nodded. “Of course,” she said with a smile.

“You can count on us,” Roxas said.

Axel backed through a Dark Corridor. “I hope so…Or you know what Xemnas will do.”

Once the portal closed behind Axel, Xion turned to Roxas. “Intruders…this puts a damper on things.”

“What if it’s—”

“Then we don’t fight.”

(Naminé)

Naminé froze. “They’re in the castle,” she breathed. She sat up. “But that means—no, surely I told them enough…”

Still, she leapt to her feet. “I don’t know how to defend myself…but Solace taught me to use the portals of light for a reason, I’m sure of it!”

She conjured one and made her way through.

(Kairi)

Kairi led the way around a corner. They seemed to be in a common room of sorts. In it stood two teens wearing Organization XIII coats.

“The Organization!” Donald shouted.

Riku summoned his Keyblade, and Kairi followed suit. “This must be their lair.”

“The intruders!” the boy said, summoning a Keyblade of his own.

The other hesitated but did the same. “Roxas…” they said softly. “How can we know…?”

“Know what?” Kairi asked slowly.

“Are you…Kairi?” Xion asked.

It hit Kairi then—this girl looked like her. She hadn’t a moment before, but when she said her name, her face. “You’re that girl,” Kairi breathed.

“They’re Organization. I say let’s get them,” Donald said.

“Wait!” another voice called. A pillar of light appeared.

“Solace?” Kairi said, changing her target.

But instead, a blonde girl in a white dress emerged, running so quickly she stumbled and nearly fell. “You can’t fight!”

“Naminé?!?” Roxas and the girl gasped. They sent away their Keyblades.

“They’re the ones,” Naminé gasped out as she came to a stop between them, spreading her arms out between the two groups and facing Roxas and the girl. “This is Kairi. You can’t fight!”

Xion nodded. “It’s okay, Naminé. We weren’t going to fight.”

“We weren’t?” Riku asked.

“We weren’t,” Kairi confirmed, sending away her Keyblade. She headed toward Naminé and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay.”

Naminé looked back at her, then over her shoulder and Riku, Donald, and Goofy, who had all sent away their weapons.

Naminé lowered her arms and sighed. She looked back at Roxas and the girl.

“Xion,” Naminé said. “I’m sure you were trying to get away, but…I guess there wasn’t enough time.”

“That’s all right. We didn’t fight,” Xion assured as she walked over. “I promised we wouldn’t.”

“What’s going on?” Kairi asked.

“I…” Naminé looked down. “I’ll explain everything later,” she said. “For now—Roxas, Xion, come with me to Twilight Town. I know a place we can keep you hidden.”

“Huh?” Roxas asked.

“We need to get you out of here,” she said. She glanced back at Kairi. “You should come, too—but, I think I feel Sora here. Down in the city below.”

“In the city…the intruders aren’t even Kairi and the others.”

Naminé nodded. “I don’t know what’s going on anymore. I can’t.” She looked down. “But please, Xion, Roxas; come with me.”

Xion looked at Roxas before nodding. “All right.”

“We trust her?” Roxas confirmed.

“We do.”

Naminé turned toward Kairi for a moment. “Go find Sora. He’s looking for you.”

“Right,” Kairi agreed. “Uh…which way is down?”

Roxas pointed. “That way.”

“Right!” She led the way.

(Aqua)

That man—Xemnas—looked so much like Terra. But the voice was wrong…he was not Terra.

So, then…where was Terra? What had Xehanort done to him? Aqua knew Xehanort had taken over his body back then, captured his heart into the darkness. Terra had fought back, and tried to remove Xehanort’s heart from his own, but he was sinking, and Aqua chose to fall instead. Perhaps a mistake, if something so terrible had happened in the time she was gone.

If Xemnas had Terra’s body…where was his heart?

She needed information from someone wiser than herself, someone who could answer her questions as to what had happened in her absence. Yen Sid…he would be of aid. But they needed to get there.

And there was another who could answer her questions sooner, perhaps more personally. This Xemnas and what remained of Xehanort within him.

Aqua came to a halt in their search for somewhere to hide. “Mickey.”

“Hmm?” Mickey looked back at her.

“I need to talk to Xemnas.”

“But weren’t we running away from him?” Sora asked.

“We were, but…if he knows where Terra is…I have to know.” She shook her head. “Take Sora and find somewhere to hide. I’ll—”

“We’re not leaving you,” Sora said.

Mickey nodded. “Right! We’ve got to stick together to stay safe in this place.”

Aqua smiled slightly and nodded. “You’re right. I’ve been alone for so long, I’d forgotten how important the help of friends was.” She turned her head to look at the castle above. “Let’s head back the way we came. If he’s following us, we’ll run into him.”

As they headed through the city, it was eerily quiet—even more than it had been before. Aqua saw no sign of Xemnas. Instead, there were broken down buildings that had stood only moments ago, though she had heard no sound of their fall. Smoldering places lay on the ground…

“Wait…” a faint voice called from behind. “He left me alive…”

Aqua wheeled around and was face to face with a man with red hair, leg stuck under debris. He was clad in a black cloak, much like Xemnas had been, but there was a look of panic in his eyes.

Aqua summoned her Keyblade. The man cowered for a moment, until she used it to lift the rubble. Sora rushed over and helped the man out, and Mickey began some cure spells.

“Who did this?” Aqua asked slowly.

“I don’t know,” the man said. “He had wings, and used beams of light…”

“Solace,” Sora said slowly. “But why?”

“Who’s Solace?” Aqua asked.

“He…he taught me to make the portals of light,” Sora said. “He messed up the timeline or something, or at least that’s what he said.”

“Messed up the timeline?”

“Sora!”

Sora looked up. “Kairi? Riku?”

A girl with red hair—Kairi…the name sounded familiar…and the other boy from the island, Riku—ran up to Sora, followed by Donald and Goofy.

“Sora, what are you doing here?” Kairi demanded.

“Well, I, uh…”

“King Mickey!” Donald and Goofy exclaimed.

Aqua returned her attention to the man on the ground. “Are you all right now?”

The man smirked. “I’m fine. Got it memorized?”

“Axel,” Kairi said. “I thought—”

“Something’s going on around here,” Axel said. “This was all a trap, I think.” He looked toward the castle. “I need to stop something from happening to the others. Roxas and Xion are up there.”

“Roxas and Xion are safe,” Kairi told him.

“Huh?”

“They went with a girl named Naminé.”

“Why are you telling him?” Riku asked. “He’s with the Organization!”

“So were they,” Kairi replied. “I have a good feeling about this guy. Believe me on this one, okay?”

Axel shook his head. “That’s great and all, but I need to see what’s going on up there. They aren’t my only friends.”

Aqua nodded. “I need to talk to Xemnas,” she said. “We’ll make introductions on the way.”


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

(Solace)

“Where is Terra’s heart?” Solace asked Xemnas, who he had cornered.

“Terra?” Xemnas asked. “You’ve destroyed my Organization in search of _Terra?_ ”

“No. Of course not,” Solace said. “That’s just why I have yet to squash you like the insect you are.”

“Then why would I tell you?”

“To repent. So perhaps your soul could be free to move on to better places rather than become a pawn yet again, with no choice in what you do. Just another piece of Xehanort.”

“Repent?”

“Oh, trust me. I can send your soul wherever I want. You have no heart, Xemnas, not like the others. You hold neither Xehanort’s nor Terra’s. A soul without a heart is sent to the Final World to be judged.”

“If that were true, that judgement would not change for such a simple act.”

Solace paused. “Fair enough, I suppose.” He sighed. “I figured there was no way to make this easy.”

“I don’t even know where Terra’s heart is anyway,” Xemnas said. “And even if you found it, you’d need my body—”

“The replicas,” Solace said simply. “I assure you, there is no need for you to exist any longer.” Solace sighed. “I’m doing everything in my power to set things right—to make this a better future, not bleaker. In the end, my influence is minimal. But unlike you, I am in the driver’s seat of my own life. You—nothing but a pawn in an old man’s game, and not even the old man you believe it to be.”

“Enough talk,” Xemnas said. Solace saw Xemnas’s weapons appear in his hands. “I am in control of my fate—”

Solace grabbed Xemnas by the face, stopping him in his tracks, floating in the air enough to stop Xemnas from struggling. “Pity. You really don’t know, do you?” Solace smiled. “Don’t worry; you’re free now.”

In a burst of light, turning into a blue silhouette before shattering, Xemnas was gone.

“A pity. Looks like the search is up to them, after all.”

Solace slowly lowered himself to the ground before falling to his knees. He had killed them—eleven people. Sure, most would be okay, their hearts formed enough to return to a new, once again human life. But all they had done was follow orders, just as he had.

“Maybe the elders were right. Maybe I do deserve to be destroyed…” Solace shook his head and stood up. “No. I did it to make things right. And things will be right. I’m sure of it.”

Solace looked around for a moment. “Now that the Organization is gone, I can rest…”

(Kairi)

“Solace!” she shouted as they reached the top of the castle. All through it were burned craters and rubble. Axel looked increasingly distressed as he passed through—perhaps he did have a heart to care about his friends…but none of that mattered.

Solace turned to face them. The expression on his face…was sad. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Xemnas knew nothing of Terra’s location.”

“What?” Aqua gasped.

Kairi stepped forward. “What are you—”

“Axel, I do apologize. It had to be done,” Solace said. “I assure you they will be fine. I only spared you as your heart was yet to be fully formed, and I did not wish to erase you.”

“You…you killed everyone?” Axel growled.

“Not Roxas and Xion. Naminé was successful in her mission, it seems.” Solace shook his head.

“You told Naminé what to do?” Kairi asked slowly.

“I suggested. I did not order or demand.” Solace shook his head. “Everything Naminé did was of her own free will.”

“Yeah right! You like to be in control of everything!” Riku said.

“On the contrary,” Solace began. “I would much rather sit back and watch, but it’s simply not possible.”

Axel shook his head and summoned his chakrams. “Why? Why did you—”

“Isa is fine, Axel,” Solace said. “All you have to do is find him. Same for everyone else.”

“Solace! Why are you doing this?”

“So you don’t have to.” Solace shook his head. “Now then, let’s get you somewhere a bit safer.”

In a burst of light, they were in the clock tower plaza, Solace nowhere to be seen.

(Naminé)

Naminé looked up as she heard a familiar sound. She turned to face her guest. “Solace,” she said softly.

“It is done,” Solace said. “You need not worry anymore.”

“What’s done? What did you do?” Naminé asked slowly.

“I am very sorry, Roxas, Xion; but they’ll be fine.”

“Huh?” Xion gasped.

Solace crouched down to Naminé’s height. “Naminé, I’ve done something terrible. Unforgivable…and not for the first time.”

“Solace? What did you do?” Naminé asked. “You can tell me. I’m your friend.”

“Naminé, I’m not someone you want to have as a friend. Your friends are here in Twilight Town; Hayner, Pence, Olette. It is time for you to be free alongside them now, and it is time for me to be free, too.”

“Solace…” Naminé looked down. “You saved me. There is some good left in you.”

“And what I did since the timeline change, I did for everyone. But that does not change the pain I have caused.” He stood up and looked at Roxas and Xion. “You need not forgive me but know that I only did what must be done. You will see them all again one day soon.”

“Solace, you’ll be back, right?” Naminé asked him slowly.

He shook his head. “No. Live your life, Naminé. All is well.”

He disappeared in a burst of light.

Naminé headed toward the door of the Usual Spot and looked back at Xion and Roxas. “Let’s take a walk.”

“…Okay?” Roxas said.

“Is something wrong, Naminé?” Xion asked.

“I’m not sure,” Naminé replied, leading the way out.

As they exited, a large group of people came down the alleyway. Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy…Sora. Naminé froze.

“Axel!” Roxas called out. He and Xion rushed that direction.

“The Organization is gone,” Axel said before they even reached him. “Everyone but us.”

“What?” Roxas gasped. Xion covered her mouth.

Naminé stopped. “Solace…” she whispered.

Everyone else was talking, but Naminé swallowed. She had done what she thought was right. She knew Solace wasn’t good, but she had trusted him…and even now, she still trusted him. If she couldn’t trust the one who saved her, who could she trust?

Well, Hayner, Pence, Olette…maybe these people here. Still, she shook her head. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered inaudibly before returning into the Usual Spot.


	22. Chapter 22

Epilogue

(Aqua)

In the mysterious tower, they had gathered to discuss what had happened—who Solace was, what he had done, what had happened with Xehanort, what to expect next…Yen Sid did not have answers to most of those questions. Things had changed. Solace had changed them.

“Master Yen Sid,” Aqua said. “I need to wake up Ven, and I need to find Terra.”

“Yes, of course,” Yen Sid said.

“I’ll go with you,” Sora said quickly.

“Sora?” Kairi asked.

“I…I feel like I need to go.”

“Then I’m going too!” Kairi said.

“Same here,” Riku agreed.

“Someone needs to find out what’s going on with Xehanort,” Mickey said. “I’ll work on that while you guys figure your stuff out!”

Aqua nodded. “Right.”

Yen Sid nodded. “We need to keep our eyes open for Solace as well,” he said. “He is meddlesome…but perhaps he could be of use in finding what happens next.”

“You’re suggesting working with him?!?” Kairi gasped.

Yen Sid shook his head. “Certainly not.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I simply mean that we watch his movements.”

Aqua shook her head. “He seems harmful. Perhaps we should do something about him.”

“He’s too dangerous for that yet,” Yen Sid said. “Perhaps when we are all together…but for now, we have no choice but to proceed.”

Aqua sighed. She needed to go to Ven—wake him up. Then they needed to find Terra. Once they were all together again, maybe things could settle down and change for the better.

For now, though, it was time for a new journey to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided to post this all in one go. Just to get through it so I can start the next one. I'm terribly bored with most of my projects, so it's time to start something new, probably the next segment of this story.


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